John and Shari Wilkins, owners of Lake Dog and their Owner in downtown Eufaula, are the driving forces behind the local annual National Night Out event.

They began organizing the event soon after opening their four years and it has been growing ever since.

“Last year, our goal was to have 50 kids from the community there,” John said. “We had over 250. That’s big for us. We want a strong relationship between the people who serve our community and the children.”

National Night Out, which began in Pennsylvania in 1984 to increase awareness about police programs in communities, has grown steadily every year.

Monday night, at the monthly city council meeting, Mayor James Hickman honored the Wilkins by making a proclamation.

“National Night Out provides an opportunity for communities … to join over 38 million neighbors in 17,000 communities across all 50 states, U.S. territories, and military bases worldwide,” the proclamation read.

In closing the proclamation stated, “As Mayor of the City of Eufaula, I hereby proclaim Tuesday, August 5, 2025, as “National Night Out” and call upon all members of our community to join the Eufaula Police Department, Eufaula Volunteer Fire Department, and Eufaula Lake Dog K9 for the National Night Out celebration in downtown Eufaula.”

Shari said her husband came up with the idea to have a local celebration and recruited others to join in putting it together.

“Everybody jumped right in,” she said. “City Manager Jacob Foos came on board, he was in favor of it.

“This is a great opportunity to bring the community together.”

She described National Night Out Day as basically a block party “in every community to bring neighbors out to encourage everyone to get along, to say hello and get together and to get to know your first responders so the little ones will know that a uniform is not scary.”

Various first responders are on hand to meet the public and demonstrate what they do.

Police, deputies, firefighters, medical personnel, wildlife officers and other are usually part of the activities, where you can get free hotdogs, slide down a waterslide “and see what cool gadgets they have,” Shari said.

This was a collaborative effort by the City of Eufaula, the Eufaula Police Department and Lake Dog K9 Charitable Foundation.

Several First Responders volunteered to participate in the event.

This is one of several fund-raising events by the Foundation, which helps pay for vet bills, tactical gear, and food for the K9 officers working with the county and the Eufaula Police Department.