Community celebrations break out across Hubbard County and beyond — here's why (2024)

Park Rapids, Menahga and Akeley hosted National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 6.

According to its website ( natw.org ), the event is “an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.”

A catered picnic, a perfect evening at Heartland Park, and opportunities to explore emergency vehicles and law enforcement gear brought a crowd out to the Hubbard County Night to Unite on Tuesday.

The spectacle included a K-9 officer obedience demonstration, an air ambulance landing, a vehicle rollover simulator, an exhibit of law enforcement boats and watercraft, emergency medical equipment and opportunities to learn about 911 dispatch – all besides a real live fire engine, an ambulance and Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office tactical gear.

“It was a well-attended event,” said firefighter Crystal Krautkremer. “The weather held out great for us. We had a lot of fun attendees come through and see all of the emergency services.

“I think it’s really important that people come out to events like that, because sometimes they only see these services when it’s an emergency or a scary situation.”

Krautkremer said events like Night to Unite, or National Night Out, help personalize the people in emergency services’ uniforms, so “they see that we are here to work cohesively as a team to support the people going through those emergencies. It’s nice to laugh and have fun and hand out the fun fire hats and pencils, because it brings normalcy back to the emergency services.”

It was all about engaging with young people, making them smile and teaching them something they maybe didn’t know, she said.

1/13:The Kruchowski family of Park Rapids – Jeremiah, 8, Jedidiah, 9, Jaclyn, 2, Josh, Jasmine and Jocelyn, 5 – watch an automobile rollover simulator. According to Kelly Deitchler with the Hubbard County Sentenced to Serve program, the simulator "shows the difference between seat-belted in and unseat-belted. It simulates a rollover crash and what the body can do inside a vehicle, and how it can be devastating if you're not seat-belted in." Robin Fish / Enterprise

2/13:Landon Skoog, 10, and Bennett Skoog, 9, try on a Hubbard County Sheriff's Office personal watercraft during Night to Unite on Tuesday. Robin Fish / Enterprise

3/13:Park Rapids Police Chief Jeff Appel, at left, and Police Officer Austin Rittgers give tickets for a bicycle drawing to Rowan Crandall, 2, Emery Gilman, 7, Gage Gilman, 12, Alex Trumble, 13 and Marilyn Gilman of Park Rapids. Robin Fish / Enterprise

4/13:"I don't have to do CPR, because I get tired; the machine never gets tired. It's always doing effective CPR compressions," said Michael Zimmer, operations supervisor for Park Rapids and Walker with North Memorial Health Ambulance. Zimmer was demonstrating the Lucas device, which does CPR chest compressions, to Doris Gravelle of Detroit Lakes and her granddaughter, Bella Marquart of Wayzata. Robin Fish / Enterprise

5/13:Assistant jail administrator Brent Lindenfelser shows SRT (special response team) gear to Henry Rusch, 5, and family members Sam and Carla Rusch, during the Hubbard County Night to Unite. Sheriff Cory Aukes, at far left, said, "This is gear they would put on if they have to extract an inmate out of the cell, that's maybe acting up." Robin Fish / Enterprise

6/13:Firefighter Crystal Krautkremer shows a family all the equipment stowed on a Park Rapids Fire Department engine, including a variety of hoses for different water pressures. Robin Fish / Enterprise

7/13:A North Memorial Health ambulance stands wide open for families to explore during Hubbard County Night to Unite. Robin Fish / Enterprise

8/13:Summit Food Service and Lamb Weston/RDO Frozen personnel cater a picnic of brats, beans and fries during Hubbard County Night to Unite, Tuesday at Heartland Park. Robin Fish / Enterprise

9/13:The Krey brothers of Menahga – Waylon, 9; Alec, 3; and Hudson, 7 – explore a North Memorial Health ambulance during Hubbard County Night to Unite. Robin Fish / Enterprise

10/13:Families attending the Hubbard County Night to Unite watch the North Memorial Health Air Care helicopter come in for a landing Tuesday at Heartland Park. Robin Fish / Enterprise

11/13:Hubbard County Night to Unite attendees converge on the North Memorial Health Air Care helicopter within moments of its landing Tuesday in Heartland Park. Robin Fish / Enterprise

12/13:Nancy Kolla, a flight nurse with North Memorial Health Air Care, shows kids and parents the agency's air ambulance during the Hubbard County Night to Unite. Robin Fish / Enterprise

13/13:Hubbard County 911 dispatcher Jessica Kruchowski (in the black T-shirt) and Sydney Weniger with 911 Communications talk with members of the public about what to know and what to do when you call 911 during the Hubbard County Night to Unite Tuesday at Heartland Park. The map on their table shows the boundaries of fire, ambulance, law enforcement and first responder districts, which dispatchers use to page the correct agencies. Robin Fish / Enterprise

Park Rapids Police Chief Jeff Appel agreed about the perfect weather and the good attendance.

“It’s always a great event,” he said. “We always love being out there and getting some face-time with the community, to just talk. The best part probably is the kids with the bike giveaway. They get pretty excited about that.”

The police department held drawings for a girl’s bike and a boy’s bike, donated by Walmart.

“It’s fun seeing all the kids and giving them all the little stickers and the good stuff,” said Appel. “It’s always good that the community can see the tools that we use for our job, and stop and talk to us on a personal level.”

Hubbard County Sheriff Cory Aukes estimated about 400-500 people attended the event, based on the number of meals served.

“It was very nice to see the public interacting with my staff and other public safety entities,” he said. “They get to interact face to face with individual law enforcement officers, with firemen. They get to see that officers actually have personalities, and they can joke with them, and they can discuss the equipment and the aspects of the job.

“It’s not just the negative stuff that you might see on TV. They get to see some positive things and truly have a positive interaction with law enforcement.”

Over at the Memorial Forest Park & Campground in Menahga, K-9 Nitro of the Wadena County Sheriff’s Office entertained the crowd with a biting demonstration as the Lions Club handed out free food and vision testing while a sprinkling of local law enforcement officers had a chance to chat with residents.

Photo courtesy: Amy Lane

The National Night Out event there went from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

It’s Menahga Police Chief Amy Lane’s second year out at this event — she came from the sheriff’s office before becoming police chief — and she says the night is a great chance for the community to come together and just “hang out”.

“Especially for the kids,” said Lane, who says when they see her at the Menahga school, they remember her from events like this. “And they’ll remember the other officers; they’re like, ‘Oh, I know you, we did this or this…’, and it builds a positive relationship for them to be able to see us, see our equipment, see what we use and sit in our squad cars and just to see what our office away from the office looks like.”

Photo courtesy: Amy Lane

A school bus was set up for the younger kids starting school to be able to crawl aboard and get familiar with the bus, as was a variety of first responder equipment.

Lane says she also received a grant from the Chiefs of Police Association to get some candy and stickers to hand out.

As Akeley Police Chief Jimmy Hansen heads into his 15th year as chief of his small, quaint town, he loves the fact that the National Night Out event there has continued to grow since he and then-mayor Jennifer Mitchell helped to start it when he took the job.

Photo courtesy: Amber Long

“And since then, the city council has continued to support it,” he said, adding that today, the atmosphere is even better than when it started. “It’s like a big family out there, meeting with the local people and constituents in and around Akeley,” Hansen said. “Everybody is visiting and catching up and getting acquainted, so we’ve grown every year not just in size but in relationship, and that’s what we’re looking for.”

Akeley’s National Night Out was held at Paul’s Patio Tuesday night from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and featured kids games, face painting, lots of food and live music by Paradigm.

Photo courtesy: Amber Long

Volunteers for the event handed out free food, and this year, they planned to feed 400 people — the most they’ve ever ordered.

“And the firefighters are a big asset in coming and helping, so that’s kind of fun, too,” said Hansen, who says the nationwide event started in bigger cities, where gangs were an issue. It was a way for people to meet police and their own neighbors in case they ever had to call them with an emergency.

Photo courtesy: Amber Long

And while Hansen says Akeley doesn’t have the gang problem, “Akeley has changed to where we got rid of some issues that some in the community did not like, and it has become more family-oriented,” said Hanson. “So this is just a way, too, for people to come out and meet the police, the EMS, the firefighters — to not be afraid of us if you ever need our help or to get a hold of us.”