The Brookings County Sheriff’s Office wants to say thank you to county residents on Aug. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. during their National Night Out celebration in Volga.

“We want to give back to the community,” Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Kriese said. “They are so supportive of us through the whole year, so this is kind of our way of giving back and saying thanks for all your support through the year. And we want everybody just to come down and have a good time, enjoy one another, and get to meet us on a one-on-one basis, too — and in a positive environment.”

This year’s event takes place on Main Street in Volga.

“This is our second year we’re having an event in Volga. Last year was our first — this year we’re wanting to make it an annual event,” Kriese said. “It went very well. Everybody seemed to enjoy it and had a lot of fun. The (Volga) City Council loved it and was all on-board with having it again this year.”

The first National Night Out event took place in Philadelphia in 1984. Since then, celebrations have spread throughout the country. According to the National Night Out website, 11 different communities in South Dakota will be participating this year. The theme is promoting camaraderie between local residents and law enforcement.

“It’s a community-building campaign that law enforcement puts on,” Kriese said. “I’ll hear from people all the time, ‘Oh, you’re the one I talked to at this, so I kind of want to visit with you.’ They kind of get to know us and see that we’re one of them, and we’re part of the community, too. It definitely helps.”

This year’s event features food, games, prizes, and demonstrations.

“We’re going to have a free will donation meal catered by Valley Restaurant. Proceeds of that will go towards Gene Bjorklund, who suffered a stroke earlier this year and has a long road to recovery,” Kriese said. “We’re going to have lots of different activities for families to come out and enjoy with inflatables, Salvation Army is going to have a petting zoo, National Guard is bringing one of their rigs down to check out, as well as law enforcement and fire vehicles and demonstrations and tours. The fire department’s going to have some targets set up for kids to spray water and spray some targets with the hose. Game, Fish, and Parks is going to be on hand with some different educational stuff.”

There will also be canine and drone demonstrations.

“We’re also doing a Toss for a Cause raffle — that’s the bean bags. For $5 you get three throws. If the person makes it on the board, they get entered into like a general raffle drawing. If they make it in the hole, they get entered into one of our grand prize drawings,” Kriese said. “We’re going to separate it into like a kids section and an adult section, so everybody gets to play and have fun. One of our grand prizes for the adults is a Pit Boss pellet grill. One of the grand prizes for the kids is a great big inflatable water park bouncy house.”

Proceeds from the Toss for a Cause raffle will go to Anna Rud to assist with medical costs.

“We are going to have some community resource booths there as well,” Kriese said. “We’ll have a representative from the Brookings United Way, the Domestic Abuse Shelter, Brookings Behavioral Health, and then Salvation Army will be there — and they’re the ones putting on our petting zoo. So some different community resources for people to come and chat with.”

Although the event is organized by the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office, Kriese said it wouldn’t be possible without the tremendous support of Volga residents and businesses.

“The whole Volga community has really come together to help us make this the event that it is,” Kriese said. “It’s all based off community donations. So our whole event is put on through donations from the Volga community businesses stepping up and donating — whether it be prizes or monetary donations to go towards event costs.”

Other than the free will donation for the meal and the cost for participating in the bean bag raffle, the event is free and open to everyone.

“It’s so much fun to see everybody come together and have fun and just enjoy a night out with one another and get to enjoy lots of different activities and a meal,” Kriese said. “So anything we can do to make our community better is what we are there for.”

He said the deputies enjoy being able to spend a friendly evening just meeting residents from throughout Brookings County.

“I think all the officers last year had a lot of fun with it,” Kriese said. “We love getting out in the community and just, you know, showing them we’re one of them in the community — not in like our typical capacity that they usually see us in. So it’s nice to just be able to … let loose, let our hair down, talk to them on a more personal basis.”

Email Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com.