It's that time of year again, time for National Night Out!  But, as you all know, nothing is the same this year.  The pandemic is making us all think about risks of getting together with others.

 National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6 from 6:00 to 8:00pm and we encourage those who participate to be outside so that you can enjoy the neighborhood and your neighbors at the same time (and maintain a safer environment to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19).

 Here are some friendly suggestions as you plan your time together:

• Keep the event outside, and return home if you need to go inside to use the restroom or get out of the heat and bugs.

• Invest in citronella candles to keep the bug population down during the event.

• Ask your neighbors to bring their own chairs.

• Set up social distance tabs on your driveway and invite neighbors to place their chairs on the marked X.

• Obviously members of the same household should sit together.

• Clear your driveway of parked cars to maximize space.

• Ask your neighbors to bring their own cups or Yeti for their drinks, rather than picking up disposable cups from a common table

• If you plan to serve any snack type food, make sure that it is individually packaged so that no one is sharing from the same bowl. 

• Provide single-use serving utensils – we all know that one neighbor makes the most delicious dip, so have each neighbor use their own plate and spoon to serve themselves, rather than a common spoon. 

• Right now, the consensus in the medical community is that buffet lines are real spreaders of the disease since people don't wash hands prior to or after touching serving utensils when they go through a buffet line.

• When social distance is not possible, be sure to wear a mask. 

• Provide hand sanitizer if at all possible.

And, lastly, keep the time frame of 6:00 – 8:00 pm in mind.  Meeting for a short time period outside, with social distancing in play, wearing masks, and using hand sanitizer when necessary, will minimize the risks of getting together, while allowing you to have some much needed catch up time with your neighbors.

Block Captains will be circulating details on individual National Night Out gatherings. If you’d like to sign up to host or have questions, please email blockcaptains@timbergrove.org