Editor:

Many residents of Brentwood celebrated the 29th annual National Night Out (NNO) this year on Aug. 7. NNO is designed to “strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnership and to send a message to criminals that communities are organized and fighting back.” Residents participated in neighborhood gatherings, barbecues and socials. They all had a fun night visiting with their neighbors and city and police officials.

We would like to thank all the Neighborhood Watch group leaders and residents who participated in National Night Out. We especially want to thank Michele Keady, community service officer, for working so hard to coordinate the visits of city and police officials and Brentwood Advisory Neighborhood Committee (BANC) members.

Thank you Mayor Bob Taylor, Vice Mayor Steve Barr, City Councilman Joel Bryant, Police Chief Mark Evenson, Police Capt. Martinez, Police Capt. Strock, Police Sgt. DiMercurio, and BANC members Johnny Staton, Claudette Naturel-Staton, Rick Fuller, Karen Nunez, Steve Smith, and Silky Sahnan for visiting the Brentwood neighborhood NNO gatherings and so graciously answering residents’ questions and concerns.

We would also like to thank Shred This, LLC, for donating their service for NNO. They provided bulk shredding of sensitive personal papers for residents. The money collected was donated to the Brentwood Police Activities League.

Furthermore, we would like to thank, Fresh & Easy, International Orphan Relief Foundation and BANC for making a donation/purchasing items for the NNO Spirit award. Thank you, BANC, for putting together the basket. The prize was awarded to the very spirited Deer Ridge Neighborhood Watch Group No. 18, on Torrey Pines Drive. Congratulations to the winner!

We all had a great time celebrating NNO. Next year we look forward to having more neighborhoods participate. Let’s continue to get the message out … that we in Brentwood are all working together to keep our neighborhoods friendly, safe and crime free.

SLBHNW and DRNW Steering Committee Co-chairs

Linda Nakaji

Aida Handt

Marilyn Van Goor

Yildiz Karaibrahimoglu

Laurel Wilson

Dani Colbasso

Jen Fernandez