National Night Out is coming up fast, and now is the time to start making preparations on your block for the night that brings neighbors together. June 15-21 is Minneapolis National Night Out Planning Week. This year, National Night Out is Tuesday, August 4.  Register (at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/nno) by July 21 for free street closing; by July 14 to be eligible for additional donated prizes to give away. Download flyer here: NNO 2009 flyer
To get started, use this checklist to guide your planning:
-          Register your NNO event. There is a single online process to register your NNO event and apply to close your street. If you want to close your street for your event, street closure is free if you apply by July 21. You need permission of 75 percent of your neighbors to be approved for street closure-please have their names and addresses with you when you apply. (You do not need their signatures.) Get started at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/nno. If you don’t have Internet access, you can register your event and apply for street closure by calling 311 (or 612-673-3000).Â
- Click on ‘read more’ below for the rest of the checklist and more ideas for a great NNO…
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-   Want a police officer, firefighter, or canine officer and dog to visit your event? Because demand can be very high for visits, we can’t promise that one will be available, but feel free to request a visit when you register by calling 311 (or 612-673-3000) to put your name on the list. Sorry, we can’t take requests for mounted patrol.
- Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Make rain plans. Decide if your event will go forward if it rains, or be rescheduled for another time. If you apply to close your street, you’ll have a rain date of Wednesday, August 5 unless you decline it during the application. If you don’t close your street, you can choose any date that works for your group. Plan ahead!
- Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â If this is your first time holding an NNO event, you can request a start-up kit. There is a limited supply of free NNO start-up kits for blocks holding NNO events for the first time. They contain plates, cups, plastic utensils, napkins, etc. for 50. If your block is new to NNO this year, call 612-673-2956 to see if a kit is available.
Each event organizer will receive Mystery Point Passes for Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America and vouchers (each good for 2 tickets) for Minnesota Twins games to use as door prizes. Each Mystery Point pass is worth a single ride, a day of rides or a whole season of rides. If you register your NNO event by July 14, you will be entered into a drawing for other door prizes donated by Minneapolis businesses.