National Night Out in Ripon is about neighbors getting to know their local police officers and fire fighters.

Community Service Officer Liz Forks of the Ripon Police Department described the community-wide event that way on Tuesday.

NNO was back once again at the Ripon Community Center after a one-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Donated items and money from community members and businesses made possible the raffle items, free hotdogs, popcorn, watermelon – in this case, Van Groningen & Sons – snow cones and children’s activities.

Police Chief Ed Ormonde helped in cooking and serving up the hotdogs – 500 were made available to those in attendance.

There were also a few changes.

“We scaled it down and made it more low key,” said Forks, who has been involved with the local NNO event involving RPD and Ripon Consolidated Fire District for the past 15 years.

Police put together several demonstrations during the evening, including motor officers Kyle Prather and Michael Perry showcasing their riding techniques.

Information Systems Technician Dan Brannon demonstrated the latest drone technology employed by RPD.

In addition, Vitas and Argos of the K-9 Unit put their training on display to the NNO crowd.

The dunk tank was back featuring Lt. Danny Sauer and Ripon Mayor Daniel de Graaf as dunk targets.