CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Pickaway County law enforcement and fire agencies will host three separate National Night Out gatherings on Aug. 4, giving families across the county a chance to meet the deputies, officers and firefighters who serve their communities.
The events will run simultaneously at three locations: Ashville Community Park, 120 Walnut St., from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; the Saltcreek-Tarlton Fire Department, 180 Main St. in Tarlton, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.; and Williamsport Park, 123 N. School St., from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., according to the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
Each stop is billed as a night of food and fun for the whole family, with residents invited to meet local first responders and pick up back-to-school information, the sheriff’s office said in a series of Facebook posts promoting the events.
The Ashville gathering is sponsored by the sheriff’s office alongside the Ashville, South Bloomfield and Commercial Point police departments, the Harrison Township and Scioto Township fire departments, Teays Valley Local Schools and Foundations For Youth. The Tarlton event is backed by the sheriff’s office, the Saltcreek-Tarlton Fire Department, Logan Elm Local Schools and local businesses Salt Creek Slice and Crosstown Creamery, along with Foundations For Youth. The Williamsport event is sponsored by the sheriff’s office, Box 65, Westfall Local Schools and Foundations For Youth.
National Night Out traces back to August 1984, when the National Association of Town Watch, a Pennsylvania-based crime-prevention group, encouraged residents in roughly 400 communities across 23 states to turn on their porch lights and step outside for an hour as a show of neighborhood unity against crime. The idea, championed by NATW executive director Matt Peskin, grew into an annual August tradition now observed by thousands of communities nationwide, pairing block parties and cookouts with visits from local police and fire departments.
Pickaway County Sheriff Matthew Hafey, who took office after his 2020 election, ended the Radcliff family’s roughly 82-year hold on the sheriff’s office. Charles Radcliff served from 1931 to 1961, his son Dwight from 1965 to 2013, and Dwight’s son Robert from 2012 to 2020, according to public records. Hafey, a U.S. Navy veteran, joined the Circleville Police Department in 2003, was promoted to sergeant in 2015 and retired from the department in 2019 to run for sheriff.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
