On the national level, National Night Out is a crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch.

For 42 years, Auburn’s NNO has been an event to which registered resident coordinators may invite police, city staff, the Valley Regional Fire Authority and other other agencies to bond with neighborhood residents over potlucks, ice cream socials, barbecues and more, all the while promoting community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.

The goal is to make Auburn a more caring and safer place to live.

This year’s National Night Out is Tuesday, Aug. 5, where local residents can join more than 8 million people in more than 17,000 communities throughout the nation in building community.

The city’s website offers a tips and tricks sheet to help people register and coordinate their event. Registered events receive access to free advertising materials as well as supplies such as cases of water, paper towels, waste bags and more.

Registering your event allows you to request visits from city staff and other officials. If you have particular questions you would like to speak about with staff at your event, contact Cristian Adams at cadams@auburnwa.gov.

If you would like to host a block party that requires closing a street in your neighborhood, you’ll need a Right-of-Way Use Permit. These generally take 3-4 weeks to process depending on the specifics of your request and require applicants to provide a completed application form, an insurance certificate, a permission/petition in favor of the block party from all adjacent neighbors, a traffic control plan showing how you intend to close the street, including the specific signs and barricade that you will use to close the street, and an application fee.

Learn more at auburnwa.com.