11th annual National Night Out is this Thursday: Three things to know before you go

The 11th annual Gardner National Night Out is Thursday, Aug. 15, and over 800 people are anticipated to attend this year.

While the usual theme of the night is health, wellness and public safety education, it's also a time for parents and their children to have some fun before the school year begins without worrying about the cost. National Night Out starts at 5:30 p.m. and ends at 8 p.m. at Monument Park.

Veronika Patty, Gardner Health Department's prevention coordinator, said it's nice to see so many Gardner businesses and nonprofits unite to organize a free community event to give residents a stress-free night of fun.

There are three changes to the event that people should know about before going on Thursday night.

No pizza contest this year

Patty said they decided not to do the pizza contest this year because there was a lot of financial pressure on local pizza restaurants to feed hundreds of people. She said 11 years ago, when they first did it, nine different pizza restaurants participated, so they only had to bring about a dozen pizzas each. Four years ago, they started to see a decline in participation, and the two or three restaurants that did the contest had to provide more pizzas and staff than they could afford.

"It wasn't really fair to rely on two or three places to feed up to 800 people," she said. "Small businesses are already struggling, and having to provide dozens of free pizzas and staff to serve the pizza is hard to do."

This year, the Montachusett Suicide Prevention Task Force is providing a free cookout for the event. The task force will offer burgers, hot dogs, water, and chips; Patty said the Walmart in Gardner is donating fresh fruit, and Fidelity Bank is handing out free ice cream again.

Free haircuts, train rides, and dunk tank schedule

Patty said that in addition to the usual free games and activities, such as the petting zoo, therapy dog meet-and-greet, first responder vehicle show, bounce houses, obstacle courses, over 50 health and wellness resource vendors, free raffle, and kids' scavenger hunts, there will be a new ride for small children and a new free service at the event.

The biggest prize in the kids' scavenger hunt and raffle is a Nintendo Switch; Patty said this year, kids ages 5 to 15 must get a sticker from the 12 organizations to enter to win. Other prizes include Lego sets.

The downtown Gardner barber, Prestige Hair Studio at 9 Pleasant St, will offer free haircuts to children of all ages, including high school students, this year during National Night Out. A trackless train will also be available for small children to ride in.

The annual dunk tank for charity will start with Mayor Nicholson at 5:45 p.m., then some members of the Gardner Police Department at 6:15 p.m., then a staff member from Alyssa's Place at 6:45 p.m., and lastly, a staff member from Recovery Centers of America at 7:15 p.m. Patty said that like every year, the dunk tank volunteers can pick who to donate the money they collect to a nonprofit that has a booth at the event.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: 11th annual National Night Out is this Thursday: Three things to know before you go