Bounce houses and live performances shared McClelland Street with emergency vehicles and military equipment Tuesday evening for Santa Maria’s National Night Out.

Organized by the city’s police department, National Night Out allowed community members and first responders to engage over hot dogs and family fun.

The event is a collaboration between different community groups, including city agencies, medical responders, Santa Maria Fire Department, nonprofits and restaurants, among others. According to police Lt. Felix Diaz, over 45 different organizations participated.

“We even have some local barbers giving out free haircuts to kids before going back to school,” Diaz said.

In years past, Santa Maria’s National Night Out has been held at the Santa Maria Fairpark plus parks in both the northern and southern ends of the city.

Diaz said the police like to change the location of the event in order to “expand (to) different areas of the community,” and specified he found the new location, just behind the Santa Maria Public Library, a success.

“If you look at the turnout, it looks really good tonight. So I’m thinking it was a good transition. I’m liking the atmosphere, I think it was a good change of venue for us,” he said.

Santa Maria resident Casey Douglass took advantage of being able to interact with first responders, where she spoke with several police officers, obtained a free water bottle from the U.S. Army booth, and a free hot dog from the police. 

“It’s always good for first responders and police to be able to be a part of the community, especially for the young kids to recognize that they’re here to serve and protect, and that they can count on them to serve and protect,” Douglass said.

Throughout the evening, it was easy to notice the prevalence of Home Depot aprons on little ones running about, as the Home Depot do-it-yourself style crafting table was a particular hit with attendees.

Another popular attraction included the fire trucks, with the kids obtaining their own fire helmets from the Fire Department.

Many found it was hard to resist checking out the police department’s motorcycles including local resident Charles Weston, who used to race motorcycles.

He and his wife, Charlene, said they were happy to attend this event to show appreciation for their own experiences with emergency responders.

“Without the fire department, he wouldn’t be here,” Charlene Weston said.

“I actually died and they had to revive me, ” Charles Weston added.

“He had a heart attack, so we are very fortunate. We live near the fire department, they only had a five-minute response time, so they were able to come and revive him,” Charlene Weston said.

Diaz specified that the importance of National Night Out is to prove to the community that “we’re here for them.

“Just building those relationships with the community, showing them the human side of us that we’re just human, just like them,” Diaz said. “And (they) get that chance to interact with us in a non-official capacity when we’re not actually working or in the field.”

Police departments in Santa Barbara and Lompoc also held the National Night Out event.

In Santa Barbara, the police department, fire department, food trucks and county programs joined the festivities at the Spencer Adams Park parking lot at 1235 Chapala St.

Attendees mingled around the parking lot as a DJ played music and visited various interactive stations to get stamps to fill a pamphlet that would then enter them into a raffle upon completion.

Community members were also able to take a look at various law enforcement vehicles at different stations, including an SB Police Activities League vehicle and the Santa Barbara Police Mobile Command. 

SBPD Motor Officer Romero Lopez had kids visit his station and hop on his police motorcycle. 

Lopez said he always knew he wanted to work in law enforcement since he was a child  and hoped to inspire others on Tuesday. 

“I love interacting with the children, and hopefully they get to see the good side of law enforcement,” he said. 

Noozhawk staff writer Pricila Flores contributed reporting to this story.