National 'Night Out' celebrated in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE - It was time for a 'night out' Tuesday night in Gainesville with food, fun and safety and security tips from area law officers and firefighters.

Kids played on fire trucks and met police, sheriff's deputies and firefighters and adults got tips on summertime safety, according to Billy Hendrix with Little-Davenport Funeral Home, which hosted the event.

Hendrix said this was the second year in a row for National Night Out in Gainesville.

"National Night Out is just a chance for neighbors to get out and meet their neighbors," Hendrix said. "It gives people the opportunity to come out in the community and talk to law enforcement officers and fire department about things that are going on or things of concern."

High on the concern list was identity theft; but visitors also wanted to know about how to start a neighborhood watch all the way to how to change a smoke detector battery.

Dee Snow said she was there to have fun and learn about how to stop identity thieves.

"I'm a lot more careful. I was involved with that one time," she said. "You need to be extremely careful and keep your mouth closed when somebody is asking for I.D. that you don't need to give out."

Oakwood Police Chief Randy Moon said he fielded a lot of questions about how to prevent identity theft.

"It's a major problem. A lot of our issues come with folks who are working under the wrong social security number," Moon said. "Don't give any information out over the telephone, that's the main thing."