NNO 2024 at Wynnewood PA

Good evening, everybody. My name is Matt Peskin. I'm here today for the Lower Meridian Community Watch and National Town Watch to help kick off the 41st annual National Night Out. There will be about 10,000 communities across the country celebrating tonight, about 16 million people, and the event started right here. Tonight, we're very fortunate to have one of the friends of National Night Out, a friend of mine from 6ABC, Alicia Vitarelli. Hello, everyone. First of all, how about the band? Can we give it up for Sydney? What a treat. And the weather cleared. I was watching this forecast all day. We had our meteorologist at 6ABC watching to make sure that we weren't going to have any severe weather. We got such a nice little break. There's a breeze coming through. What I love about this evening is that it brings together everyone in the community with all of our first responders who are protecting and serving us every single day. We get to see their faces and meet them and say thank you and know that these are our allies in the community. What a pleasure to be here tonight. I have to tell you, we just moved to the area this week. We're brand new to Lower Merion. I'm really excited. You're new, too. Yes, come on up, Andy Block. This is so cool. This is so exciting. New role for you. Tell me a little bit about how it's going. It's phenomenal. I've lived in this township all my life. Welcome to Lower Merion, the premier township. We're glad you're here as a resident. It's phenomenal to work with these men and women. I am blessed and humbled to be able to serve among the ranks with them. It's a lifelong dream that's been realized when I was sworn in two months ago. It's phenomenal to be here. Just two months on the job, one week here in Lower Merion. Thank you to all of your entire force for making sure that this area, the people who live here know that these are the faces who are here to serve and protect. Then you made a joke because I'm a Villanova alum, so I'm kind of back in the area. You're back in the area. I worked in Ratner. That's where I did the majority of my career for 28 years. She was always a saint. She always had a halo on when she was at Villanova. She was always there supporting the police. Sure. First of all, this night wouldn't be possible without this gentleman right here. Let's have a hand for Matt Peskin, the original founder. You heard the statistics. It's phenomenal what goes on this first Tuesday in August of every year. In Lower Merion, we held the rain off for this. We put some barricades up and told them they're not going to pass the police line with the rain itself. I want to thank you, Matt, for all the years of doing this and everything that National Night Out has done for all our communities throughout the country. The other thing is, this is about community here. This is the Lower Merion community coming together. This is breaking down barriers. Say hi to somebody. Go meet somebody you don't know tonight. Walk up. We have our first responders back here, our police, fire, EMS. Walk over to the tables. Introduce yourself. They have a lot of giveaways there. They want to make relationships, too. They want to know who the community is and what we can do for you. That's what we're here for. We serve. We're serving leadership, and we're here for you day and night. Again, it's a pleasure to be here. I'll turn the microphone back over to Alicia. Well, we just have a little surprise for you, a little treat, just so that you remember tonight. First one, first one. Yes, I've been here many times, you know, as a resident of Lower Merion, but the first time to be here. And again, it's an honor to be here as the superintendent of police with these fine officers behind me. And please stop and see them tonight. Right. So everyone knows Superintendent Andy Block. This is the big guy. Like, this is like the boss over here, right? So if you want to talk to management, we have him. That's it. We're here. We're here. We're taking complaints all night long. No, no, no complaints. Only compliments. The compliment box is open. Thank you all so, so much for being here, Matt. Thank you for having me. You know, 6ABC always makes it a point to make sure that the people in the community know that we're here to tell their stories. And I look out among the crowd and so many wonderful people who watch us every day are here. So thank you. Support the vendors here tonight, ladies and gentlemen. There's numerous vendors here. Please support them. We couldn't do this without the vendors either. So please stop and see them as well. Thank you. Also, the school times are changing. I just was looking at the list over there. So yes, get ready to go back to school. The Lower Merion School District has got all the information that you need. Don't be late for school. Right. So when that happens in Lower Merion, remember, you're going to pack your lunch, pack your school bag and pack your patients for the first couple of weeks. We'll get you through it. That's it. That's it. Thank you so, so much, Matt. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Alicia. Thank you, Andy. I'm not going to bore everybody because we've lucked out so far. I want to bring back Sydney. Thank you for coming. Happy National Night Out.