Mountlake Terrace recently won an award for it’s National Night Out event in August. The award criteria were:

1. Overall Campaign – Quality of area’s NNO program including” Organizational structure (e.g. advance planning, involving all levels of community, etc.); Short and long term impact upon community; Significant results; Regular communication with NATW/NNO office.

2. Neighborhood Participation – Extent of citizen involvement; Number of participation blocks, neighborhoods, communities; Types of events, activities.

3. Law Enforcement Involvement – Level and extent of police or sheriff department participation & support.

4. Media & Promotional Campaign – Extent and quality of print and broadcast news coverage generated by ara’s NNO campaign. Documentation of same should include: Videotapes of TV newscasts and footage of local events; news clippings, etc.

5. Special Events – Uniqueness and effectiveness of local special events developed for NNO. How did events impact upon local participation media coverage, area-wide awareness.

6. Post Project Report – Quality, appearance and comprehensiveness of post-NNO submission (very important!). Report should include; narrative, commentary, documentation of results, participation; agendas; news clips’ samples of flyers, posters and related promotional materials; Photos; Videotapes. (see “Notes & Tips” section)

7. Miscellaneous – Participation in “Project 365”; Timeliness of submissions to NATW; Support of national corporate sponsors, where possible; Official involvement of electric utility (electric companies – public & private utilities must register separately with the NATW office); Support of national promotion, themes (e.g. Going Away Party, security lighting, etc.); Efforts to involve new NNO cities, towns, counties in your region.

Mountlake Terrace was ranked 38th in the country for communities with a population between 15,000 and 49,999.

Around 700 people came to the National Night Out event this year. The event was organized by the city’s Police Department and volunteer Community Policing Advisory Board members.