Cranbury PBA Local 405: ‘We hope to see everyone next year’

Cranbury’s National Night Out won’t occur this year as the annual event was canceled due to the weather.

National Night Out in Cranbury had been scheduled to occur at Village Park on Aug. 6 from 5-8 p.m. but thunderstorms and heavy rain ended those plans for the community event in 2024.

“Unfortunately, the thunderstorms arrived earlier than we anticipated, and we are canceling National Night Out in the interest of public safety,” Cranbury Policemen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) LOCAL 405 wrote on their Facebook page. “Thank you to all the participants and businesses that were planning to attend, we hope to see everyone next year.”

Cranbury PBA Local 405 and the police department have co-sponsored the event annually for the community. The event allows for residents to meet their police officers without a vest on and in an unofficial capacity.

This year, they had partnered with the Cranbury Municipal Alliance. It was going to be the first year for the alliance to participate in the event.

The Municipal Alliance was going to be sponsoring a Health and Wellness Pavilion. Joann Charwin, chair of the Cranbury Municipal Alliance, said the purpose of the Health and Wellness Pavilion was to provide resources to the community regarding mental health, substance abuse prevention, and options for healthy ways of living.

Some of the presenters that were expected to be at the pavilion during National Night Out – Elks Drug Prevention Program, Pen Med Princeton Health Community Wellness, National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, RWJ (Robert Wood Johnson) Barnabas WOW Nutrition Program, Middlesex County Health Services and Environmental Health, Lions Club, Helene Cody Foundation, Yoga & Massage, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and Seeing Eye Dogs.

Last year, children tossed cornhole bean bags in games and played soccer with each other, people were able to explore Cranbury Township police vehicles, Cranbury Volunteer Fire Company fire trucks, and Georges Garage & Towing trucks.

There was music, food, fun and the chance to meet and talk with police officers in person in a different setting.

National Night Out was introduced nationally in 1984 and is an annual community building campaign that was created to make communities safer and build trust between communities and their police departments, according to the National Association of Town Watch.

This is the 41st year of the campaign, which had millions of people participate and attend across all 50 states. Local communities either hosted block parties, parades, and cookouts to celebrate the community event.

The National Association of Town Watch sponsors the annual nationwide event that is also celebrated in U.S. territories and on military bases worldwide with a goal to establish stronger relationships and camaraderie between officers and the communities they serve.