Monessen Police welcomes community to Night Out

First responders and area businesses were on hand for Tuesday evening’s event.

Monessen Night Out was celebrated Tuesday evening with local first responders in attendance to welcome kids and families as well as discuss what they do day to day.

From 5 to 8 p.m., a couple hundred people attended the event in Monessen High School’s parking lot. It was sponsored by the Westmoreland Drug and Alcohol Commission as well as the Monessen Police Department.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie, and different areas celebrate this in different ways.

This is the third time that Monessen has hosted an event. The first year the Night Out was brought back was before the pandemic and it didn’t work out at City Park, police chief David Yuhasz told the Mon Valley Independent last year.

“After COVID, we started going to Rostraver (Mon Valley Night Out),” Yuhasz said. “We did the big one in Rostraver and the people with the drug and alcohol reached out saying they wanted to do one in Monessen. OK, we were going to do it at City Park. They did it there and the logistics were horrible. I asked the school, and the school said sure. So this is perfect.”

While Tuesday’s temperatures were hot, Yuhasz said he was excited by the turnout, and the chance for kids to learn more about their local law enforcement. He said they have been planning the event since February.

“This is different from what they do at the Mon Valley (Night Out),” Yuhasz said. “It’s more personal, I think. What they do is very good for everybody to get together, but this is mostly Monessen. This is a good spot, but we need to figure out how to do this parking better.”

There were baskets to be raffled, food stands, children’s prizes, free ice cream for everyone, a lemonade stand, moving robots from Mon Valley Mammoths, bubbles, balloon animals, gymnastics, yoga, karate, a DJ and more.

Shanna Cooper of Monessen said her children really enjoyed the event and all the different activities there were offered.

“It’s good to get out of the house and come to things like this,” she said. “It is also important to recognize all the work law enforcement does for us.”

With 44 booths in total, many Mon Valley businesses were represented, including Mon Valley Paws, the American Red Cross, SPHS, Monessen School District and several more.

Magisterial District Judge Wayne Vlasic had a booth where he gave away two free bikes that he purchased. He said he likes to come to the event every year, and gave out bikes last year as well.

“So I am involved in the community, and I might as well come out and help out the kids,” Vlasic said. “They didn’t have it for a number of years due to COVID.”

Tim Burgan, lead pastor of Christian Center Church in Belle Vernon, which owns His Place Coffee, Community and More in Monessen, was at the event handing out cold drinks and offering several activities.

The coffee shop is part of a larger initiative by the church to provide outreach services and support to the Monessen community. Burgan said they hoped they did that during Monessen Night Out.

“So far, it’s nice,” Burgan said. “We were at Rostraver last week, and that’s obviously a bigger event, but this has been growing. This year is bigger than last year and so on.”

Some of the first responders in attendance included Monessen and Rostraver Police, North Belle Vernon Fire Department, City of Monessen Fire Department, Lock #4 Volunteer Fire Company in North Charleroi, Mon Valley EMS and more.

The booths had first responders and giveaways, as well as several vehicles, trucks and a helicopter for residents to check out.

At Monessen Volunteer Fire Department No. 2’s booth, they showed off their trucks 81 Rescue 2, 81 Squirt 2 and Squirt 4 after fighting fires earlier in the afternoon. Jaime Sethman said they are excited to be at the event every year as she passed out candy to children.

“We always try to come to events like these, and the kids really enjoy it every year,” volunteer firefighter Greg Dunlap said.

A member of the Mon Valley EMS board for two years, Lorenzo Garino said they are trying to steer the group in the right direction following the pandemic.

“After COVID, we all came on board and tried to reorganize Mon Valley EMS,” Garino said. “We come out every year to support the city. We have a good relationship with the police department, and with the city. Anytime you can get kids familiar with public safety is a good thing. Anytime you familiarize people with what you do, I think it adds that human element that is really cool.”