When hundreds of people turned out at Whiteside Park, it was pretty clear that Ely’s first National Night Out was a hit.
That’s been confirmed, on a national level, no less.
Earlier this month, the Ely Police Department won the “Rookie of the Year 2025” award by the National Night Out Committee.
The award put Ely in exclusive company.
“We were one of eight communities in the country to get it,” said Ely officer Courtney Olson, who helped to organize the Aug. 5 event at Whiteside Park. “It was only eligible for first-time participants.”
Part of the nationwide Neighborhood Watch organization and an effort to bring law enforcement personnel together with their communities, National Night Out has gone on for more than 40 years and the Ely Police Department stepped up in 2025 with a major event.
Held in conjunction with the Farmers Market, Ely’s National Night Out included carnival games, food, face painting, chalk art and what turned out to be the crowd favorite - the dunk tank.
Turnout was “better than we could have expected,” police indicated.
“We had almost 500 people come to our check in, and we thought we had a lot more than 500 there,” said Olson.
Olson said the EPD put together a binder detailing all of the information related to Ely’s National Night Out and submitted it for consideration, and the rookie award resulted.
Police say that Ely area residents were in large part responsible for the award.
“People in Ely love doing community events,” said Olson. “People just love getting together. It’s just a good excuse to get out, enjoy the weather, meet new people. The games were a hit. The dunk tank was a huge hit. Everybody was a really good sport about it. The parking interns really wanted to go in there and we had to force the chief (Police Chief Chad Houde) in. That was very popular.”
Donations to the EPD’s Cops for Kids fund, along with materials donated by local businesses and organizations helped to put the event on, and talk has already turned to the 2026 event, slated for Tuesday, Aug. 4.
“It’s always the first Tuesday in August,” said Olson. “I think we’re going to keep it at Whiteside Park. I think the Farmers Market went over really well and people loved the bounce house. I think we have to do the dunk tank again. We would like to get community feedback and hear more and hear if there’s anything that people want to see.”
Anyone with ideas for the 2026 event is invited to call the EPD at 365-3222.
“We are super excited for National Night Out,” said Olson. “We love doing this stuff. The job is hard enough and we love having the positive interactions.”
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