It felt like a party from a different year and not only because Michael Jackson’s 1983 hit song, Wanna Be Starting Something, played in the background. The air felt cool. The Delta variant hadn’t completely come into Greenbelt’s collective consciousness and everything was outdoors.
Greenbelt’s part of the National Night Out on Tuesday, August 3 took place in a back parking lot of Beltway Plaza. The event is billed as an annual community-building campaign for police and community partnerships. What that translates to is a party.
More than 100 people showed up, laughing as they shot hoops, stood in line for pizza or chicken and admired the motorcycles from the Platinum Rollers Club. Little ones chased soap bubbles, chalked the blacktop and hugged the costumed fire-mascot.
Some people wore masks while others didn’t.
Police and fire officials joined in some of the games and handed out printed information. Members of the city council and county council wandered through the crowd greeting people. Businesses from Beltway Plaza gave away free food, while The Space encouraged artistic adventures and Greenbelt CARES handed out information about health screenings and eviction prevention.
One of the highlights, beside the free food, was a K-9 demonstration by Police Officer Gerald Potts and his canine partner Duco, a Belgian Malinois who showed off his skills to the crowd. First, Potts gave two young volunteers cell phones to hold onto for a few minutes while he explained where Duco would come from. Then he asked them to throw the phones into the grass. When Duco emerged from a car, he found the phones and alerted Potts by sitting. Duco’s reward was playing with a ball for a few minutes before demonstrating his understanding of hand signals and whistled commands. After the event, Potts asked the kids to line up if they wanted to greet the dog. Duco remained calm, though his energy didn’t seem to diminish at all.
The party lasted from 6 to 8 p.m. Another National Night Out event was held in the Hunting Ridge community on Hanover Parkway, but drew a smaller crowd.
