Local law enforcement officers will be honored by children of Historic East Linden Project at NNO 2012
By P.J. D’Annunzio, Staff Writer, The Times
Kennett Square’s Historic East Linden neighborhood. Residents, including kids from the neighborhood, will be part of a ceremony to honor the borough’s police department on National Night Out on Aug. 7.
KENNETT SQUARE — It takes a village to raise a child. In the case of Historic East Linden, it takes a community which has instilled within its children a spirit of respect and admiration for law enforcement.
To that end, residents and children of the Historic East Linden district in Kennett Square are coming out on Tuesday Aug. 7 to celebrate their local police officers at National Night Out 2012, a national initiative to promote safe communities.
“The children of the Historic East Linden Project would like to thank the local police department for making their neighborhood a better place to live.” Event Coordinator Janine Kreiss said. “The neighborhood kids recently went to the Borough police station and interviewed different police officers. We’re going to have the kids make a presentation on what the learned and how they felt before the interview and how they felt after, and give a thank you to the police and recognize them with certificates. Then police officers are going to in turn recognize the kids for their interest and participation.”
The East Linden District has seen many positive changes in the last ten years, due in part to local law enforcement. With the police department’s assistance, the East Linden Neighborhood is now booming with a culturally diverse mix of active community residents, children at play and still a motivated neighborhood organization.
On the genesis of the organization, Kreiss explained, “Ten years ago, some residents in the community got together and started meeting regularly because they didn’t like the way the neighborhood was being portrayed. They didn’t want their kids going outside to play. They weren’t comfortable with walking in the streets at times. They wanted to make a better place to live.
“They cultivated a mission to just be in communication for the good of the community and from that we started an after school program for kids called ‘Study Buddies’. During the school year, they come after school and have a place to go to work on some fun things as well as their homework.”
Historic East Linden works not only in making the community safe, but also in keeping its neighborhood clean and aesthetically pleasing.
“There is also a whole element of beautification to the neighborhood since it’s a historic district,” Kreiss added. “Certain houses were deteriorating. Historic East Linden took on the mission of maintaining the historic district in order to preserve the attributes of the community. Clean ups and trash removal were organized as well as home repair.”
Slated to be in attendance at NNO 2012 are members from the Kennett Square Borough Council, Kennett Borough police, and members of other local police and fire departments.
“Following the speeches we’re going to have food and refreshments and there’s also going to be mini self-defense lessons from the New Garden Karate studio. The kids will also have an opportunity to check out police cars and fire engines,” Kreiss said.
All Kennett residents are encouraged come out and enjoy food, fun, friends and family in this block-party setting, and to learn more about the history of the neighborhood.
National Night Out 2012 is a free event open to the public and will take place from 6:00 – 7:30 PM on Tuesday, Aug. 7. The event will take place on East Linden Street with catering provided by: Herr’s Food Inc., Giordano’s Pizzeria, Fox’s Pizza Den, and Pat’s Pizzeria of Kennett Square.
We look forward to seeing everyone come out on Tuesday evening! Congressman Pitts will be joining us! Thank you!