National Night Out in Sunbury draws largest crowd in city history

Aug. 4—SUNBURY — Nearly 1,000 people met with police officers, firefighters and emergency responders during Sunbury's National Night Out event.

The Sunbury Police Department hosted the event and, for the first time ever, it was held at the community pool and ice rink.

"What an awesome night it is," 85-year-old Hazel Campbell said. "I love our police and I support them. Tonight was a good time and we should do more of these types of events. Everyone was smiling."

Jeffrey Wojciechowski, supervisor in the Sunbury Code Department, started the night off by winning the hot dog eating contest when he finished four hotdogs and an ice cream sandwich in a time of 3 minutes and 11 seconds.

"Tonight was just about fun and getting our community together," said organizer Jolinn Barner, who is also the city clerk.

"We are so happy everyone had a good time."

Councilman Josh Brosious said Barner did a fantastic job for the residents.

"She worked very hard to pull this off and she did an amazing job," he said. "Tonight was about our community and they absolutely showed up from all over. People couldn't find a place to park."

Sunbury resident Priscilla Derr said she and her family enjoyed the event.

"The food the fun and getting the kids out was great," she said. "The boys loved the fire trucks. This was a great event and they all enjoyed the freebies."

Sunbury Police Chief Brad Hare was the star of the dunk tank, said resident Carlos Salvia.

"He was a good sport," he said. "He got dunked a lot."

Hare agreed.

"People in our city have great arms," Hare joked. "Tonight was so much fun and I am glad to see so many members of the community come together."

Brosious and City Treasurer Kevin Troup donated bikes, scooters and a hoverboard that were given away.

The event included hot dogs, chips, soda, water, free swimming and various other light refreshments, along with arts and crafts and music.

Barner and Sunbury Police Officer Terry Ketchum secured the Pennsylvania State Police Mounted Patrol Unit who also visited the city.

A crew from a Life Flight division landed on the grounds at the ice rink and Councilman Chris Reis, who owns Chris Reis State Farm Insurance, in Sunbury, sponsored the Pennsylvania DUI Safety Simulator for the youth and parents to experience and understand the impact of distractions while driving impaired.

The Safety SIMulator is a virtual driving experience that allows students to sit in a real car "cockpit" with working instruments and a three-screen, 120 degree view, according to Reis.

"All in all this was a great night for our city," Barner said.