(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton National Night Out event once again provided family fun and a chance for community members to meet/get to know their local law enforcement and emergency responders Tuesday night, August 6.
Folks from the Sheriff’s Office, local law agencies, search and rescue, the Riverton Community Watch group, ambulance/emergency responders, Wyoming Highway Patrol and more were on scene to chat with attendees while also having a little bit of fun.
After the night kicked off with Classic Air Medical and Guardian Flight helicopters landing at the fairgrounds, event MC Rusty Harris kept event-goers entertained and informed on all the fun activities like face painting, a dunk tank, a booth with adoptable dogs, bouncy houses and much more.
Also, anyone who has ever been on the wrong end of a radar speed gun now had the chance to have a little fun with one, and see how fast they could throw a pitch.
County 10 spoke with a few of the responders and officers in attendance, who all agreed that National Night Out is a great way to engage with the community.
“Nights like tonight are important because people get to see us besides being active in law enforcement, and they get to come out and see what type of people we are,” commented Lander Police Chief Scott Peters. “We’re friendly, and we’re here to support and help.”
Brock Roberts, the Commander for Riverton Search and Rescue, shared that they don’t get many chances to interact with the community, and National Night Out provides an opportunity to do just that.
“The biggest thing that we want to public to know is that we’re here to help and our services are always free of charge,” Roberts stated.
“The community gets to see all the entities that work together,” Colleen K. Scott, an EMT-Basic at Frontier Ambulance who has been in the field for close to 20 years, shared. Scott stressed how important it is that they do as much community service and outreach as they do, especially for the youth to see.
“We want to have good relations with the children because they get very afraid when they see the lights and sirens, and this is like a buffer to help us relate more and not seem as scary as they think we are.”
Riverton Police Chief Eric Hurtado was especially appreciative of responders like Scott who were able to attend this year’s Night Out, which saw a rise in overall responder numbers.
“This year we were able to have more first responders able to participate in the National Night Out,” Hurtado told County 10. “We are fortunate to have a lot of support for our first responders here in Fremont County. If it was not for the community support, our event would not have been possible.”
Hurtado wanted to also give a special thanks to the event’s major sponsor, Injury Prevention Resources, and shared that he is already making plans for next year.
“We look forward to expand the event with more games, raffles, and participation in the years to come.”