National Night Out Generates Hugest Turnout in Wynnewood

About 2,200 people attended this year’s National Night Out (NNO) at the Wynnewood Shopping Center.

“This was the biggest turn out we had in this area,” said Matt Peskin, who established National Night Out back in 1984. The event takes place throughout the U.S. on the first Tuesday in August.

According to the National Night Out website:

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live.

Cited at https://natw.org/about/

Peskin said that usually about 2,000 people turn out for this event, and they are mostly families with young children.

“This year felt different,” said Peskin. “There was a great cross section of ages.”

Peskin attributed the change to NNO being cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another reason is that there are fewer events taking place in the area. For example, this year the annual Narberth July 4th Fireworks were permanently cancelled. This had been a Narberth tradition since 1942.

“People were anxious to get out and have fun,” said Peskin. And he was not kidding.

Getting people to attend this year’s NNO was an easy sell, but Peskin remembers launching the event was a struggle.

“It was a tough sell at first,” said Peskin. “Crime rate was very high at the time. A lot of people were going toward locking their doors, getting better security systems; they were basically going the wrong way. In other words, in order to prevent crime, you need to be out there. Take a look at South Philly or Manayunk. They’re tight neighborhoods where people know each other. Criminals don’t go there because they know that everyone looks out for each other.”

Peskin continued to make NNO an annual tradition because, even in the beginning, he saw that many people loved his idea of being outside together as a community.

“This was before the block parties and the festivals and the cookouts,” said Peskin. “Their neighbors were out waving down the street. It was like when people were out during a snowstorm. People helped each other.”

Bob Kelly, former Philadelphia Flyer star, attended the NNO in Wynnewood, PA. Fans over 50 would know that Kelly played for the Flyers when they won the Stanley cup two years in a row, in 1974 and 1975. (When the Flyers won the cup in ’75 in game 6 - May 27, 1975 - against the Buffalo Sabres, the final score of that game was 2 to 0. Kelly was one of the two flyers to score in that game. The other was Bill Clement.)

“I’m here (at NNO) just to create awareness,” said Kelly who is now an ambassador for the Flyers. “Everyone is here to have fun, generate interest, and hopefully keep the community safe.”

Another noteworthy volunteer was 88-year-old Rhoda Antolino of Wynnewood, PA. She has volunteered at NNO for nearly 10 years.

“I do it because I want to get involved in my community,” said Antolino.

For more information about National Night Out, log onto www.nno.org.