Shoreline Celebrates National Night Out

Streets throughout Shoreline were cordoned off as people shared a potluck meal with their neighbors Tuesday night with city officials, police and fire personnel stopping by as part of the annual National Night Out Against Crime. 

Organizers registered about 40 National Night Out block parties with the city this year, said neighborhoods coordinator Nora Smith.

About 60 neighbors in the Ballinger neighborhood spilled out onto the streets to converse and eat hot dogs, salads, chips and brownies on 14^th Ave. N.E. between N.E. 195^th and N.E. 198^th Street.

A Shoreline Fire Department engine stopped by and adults and children alike jumped aboard and checked it out. Ballinger was the last of about four stops for the engine during the evening.

“All of them have had pretty good turnouts,” Eric Zender, an acting lieutenant in the Shoreline Fire Department. “The people have been coming to see what we carry on our engine and we do. Kids love it.”

This particular neighborhood skipped last year’s event but organizers Tom and Landa Jaques decided to do it again this year for the third year out of four. Landa Jaques said she dropped fliers on about 100 homes in the area this year.

“We had a good turnout,” she said. “The kids got their watermelon finally.”

Lisa Shulman bought a house and moved into the neighborhood two months ago after living in North City for five years.

“I’ve grown to love the area,” she said. “When I was looking for a house I wanted to stay.”

Shulman and James Wilson who recently moved from Dallas, Texas to the Seattle area and rents a room from Shulman, met most of their neighbors for the first time.

“Everybody’s so busy that you don’t see everybody except on an occasion like this,” said Karen Flowers who has lived in the neighborhood for 31 out of the last 35 years with her husband Rocky.

“It’s a pretty quiet neighborhood. There’s no offical block watch program, but we have people who pay attention to what’s going on,” she said.

Earlier in the evening, Mayor Keith McGlashan, City Manager Julie Underwood, Chief of Police Dan Pingrey, Fire Commissioner Jon Kennison and City Council candidate Robin McClelland stopped by to meet and greet the neighbors.