West Concord residents celebrate National Night Out

A large number of West Concord residents turned out for National Night Out festivities at Memorial Park last week.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the first Hometown Pride Award to West Concord native Matt Hanson who won the 2015 North American Ironman Championship last May. Other activities included a picnic supper, activities for the children, a presentation by Hanson on game day nutrition, displays by the West Concord Fire and Police Departments, free swimming at the municipal pool, bingo and a outdoor movie at dusk.
Hanson, a professional triathlete, has a doctorate in education and teaches at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.
As the winner of the North American Championship, he will race in the World Championship in Oct. in Kona, Hawaii. He competed in 2013 as an amateur but the 2015 race will be his first world championship event as a professional.
While he said he does not have a specific time goal for this year’s race at Kona he does have a long-range goal.
“At some point in my life I want to win Kona,” he said.
Ironman competitions are grueling events that include a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride and ending with a 26.2-mile run. Hanson won the North American Championship with a total time of 8:07:03 hours.
Also as part of the evening’s events, West Concord Police Officer Mike Erdman spoke about the recently completed Citizen’s Academy.
The course, which met once a week for a month, saw participants gaining a first-hand knowledge of what police officers do and why they do it. The department considers the academy a success, Erdman said, and is planning to have a second session this fall.
Reserve Officer John Bacigalupo also updated those attending on the Reserve Officer program that has been operated in West Concord for over a year. Reserve officers assist the regular sworn officers with their duties throughout the year and for special events such as Survival Days.
Reserve officers are volunteers, Bacigalupo said, with the costs to the city minimal.
Before the event’s official programs got underway, a picnic supper of either pork sandwiches or walking tacos was available for purchase and the Cardinal Club was on hand to sell root beer floats.
Money raised by the Cardinal Club from the sale of the floats will be used for upgrades to Memorial Park.
Police officers and firefighters were also on the scene to show some of the city’s police and fire equipment.
National Night Out is a nationwide event held each year on the first Tuesday of August. It started as a way to connect residents with their police, fire and law enforcement officials.