Can Nassau Bay play well with others?

After years of tepid participation by its residents in National Night Out, Nassau Bay is taking a proactive approach this year.
This year the city has been divided into 50 to 60 sections for the annual crime prevention event that will be held statewide on Tuesday Oct. 6. Each section will have a block captain who will host an informal gathering starting around 7 p.m. in their front yard for their neighbors.
A map of the city's sections for National Night Out can be viewed here.
Next week, block captains will pass out fliers with details on their neighborhood's National Night Out gathering. They will provide drinks, but attendees are encouraged to bring snacks like nuts, chips and cakes.
National Night Out is an important way that citizens can improve the security in their neighborhoods," said former city manager John Kennedy, one of the city's National Night Out organizers. We just want to give residents the opportunity to meet and get to know each other better."
Kennedy attributed Nassau Bay's lack of participation in National Night Out in the past to a lack of grassroots effort.
When you try to drive something like National Night Out from the top down, it just doesn't work that well," he said. Our approach has been entirely different. It's a bottom up approach with a lot, a lot of citizen participation. We think it's going to be very successful."
More than 40 residents have committed to be block captains, but others are still needed, Kennedy said.
Those interested should contact Kennedy at 832-315-0804 or kennedyjohnd@comcast.net or Collin Clement at 281-333-1015 or collinclement@verizon.net.