The Lehighton Borough Police Department hosted Lehighton Police Night Out Tuesday at Baer Memorial Park.

The event began with an opening ceremony led by borough police Chief Troy Abelovsky, who thanked all those for attending.

That was followed by a rendition of the national anthem performed by the Lehighton Indian’s Tribe Pride Marching Band.

A drone demonstration in which visitors could observed Wolfpack Search & Recovery demonstrate their usage of drones to aid in their search efforts was also held.

Another popular hit was the K-9 demonstration that featured the skills of Bushkill Township K-9 ‘Sniper’ and Slate Belt Regional Police K-9 ‘Zorro’.

If that wasn’t enough to excite the crowd, then a helicopter landing in which Geisinger Flight landed their medical transport helicopter in the upper field was, as guests were able to approach the helicopter and meet the pilots.

A Taser demonstration in which visitors could witness a Lehighton Borough police officer experience being Tased (Taser training is a requirement for all borough officers) then gained the attention of the audience.

The event was filled with food, games, music, giveaways, contests, demonstrations and information on many local agencies, organizations and businesses that enhance the community.

Other activities included a scavenger hunt, meet the fleet, bounce house and obstacle course, a rock wall, coloring contest, face painting, skateboarding demonstrations, live animal demonstrations at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center tent, an accident auto-extradition demonstration in which the Lehighton Fire Department demonstrated their skills during a car crash, and the raffling off two mountain bikes.

In addition, there was also a dunk tank where proceeds raised go toward the department’s “Shop with a Cop” community program to help less fortunate families have a better Christmas.

Children such as Zaylee Berger of Lehighton, clearly enjoyed the event.

“It’s cool and there’s candy, ice cream, and a bounce house,” said Zaylee, 10.

Elsewhere, Jason Kutchera, 9, and Kyla Hausman, 5, both of Lehighton, enjoyed a friendly game of tic-tac-toe.

Christie Hausman said they came to last year’s event and she decided to bring them back because the event is so much fun.

A donation jar was posted at the police tent for the family whose children perished in the fire Sept. 30 in Franklin Township, in which all donations collected will be forwarded to Miller Funeral Home, 137 Fairview St., Lehighton, to help offset the funeral expenses for the family.

Abelovsky said last year’s event attracted over 1,200 residents, and noted 1,500 was the goal this year.

The department held two other events in August; Ice Cream with a Cop and Lights on Lehighton.

Officers were at Corner Cone at Mahoning and Eighth streets for the Ice Cream with a Cop event.

Earlier that week, the department conducted Lights On Lehighton, which was designed to have officers out and directly engaged with the community.

Officers interacted with borough residents as the department had one unit out to engage with the community.

Police handed out over 100 freeze pops, 30 bottles of water and department swag to the kids and families.

Through community outreach, Abelovsky said, he hopes to promote safe and trusting relationships with the community, and to teach kids that the police are their friends and will be there to help whenever and wherever they should be in need.