Waseca's Night to Unite

Night to Unite, a national event, was observed at the Waseca Water Park on Tuesday, August 2 from 5 to 7 p.m. This celebration, sponsored by public safety agencies to encourage a sense of community and offer neighbors a chance to get to know each other better,  has been held at the waterpark for the last five years (disregarding a year skipped because of Covid) with attendance ranging anywhere from 300 to 500 people. The celebration included free admission to the waterpark, grilled hot dogs, giant freeze pops and water. The Waseca Food Shelf accepted non-perishable food items and the Waseca-LeSueur Public Library had a booth. Bike helmets were also given away on a first-come, first-served basis and a raffle which gave away two bikes at the end of the evening. 

As police officers and firefighters served food and visited with attendees,  the Minnwest Junior Board, made up of upcoming high school seniors, hosted fun water games. While some children chose water balloons, others chose to compete against an opponent in a  sponge game, filling their sponges from one water bucket and squeezing them dry into an empty one. The first to empty the previously filled bucket walked away the champion. 

While other jurisdictions may structure their celebrations by going to the people, having block parties and such, Waseca’s uses the waterpark to bring people together. 

According to Nick Wellman,  who helped plan Tuesday’s gathering, the event is for “putting a name to a face with public safety personnel,  whether it be fire safety workers or members of the  local police department here in Waseca.” Wellman pointed out that the fun and fellowship of the event was a pleasant way of getting to know safety personnel, as opposed to seeing them for the first time during an emergency.

Wellman also observed that the evening seemed to be going well, allowing people to get together with their neighbors to meet with public safety personnel while having conversations with them about crime prevention or anything else. 

Among the local safety personnel Wasecans may want to become better acquainted with are Penny Vought, Kris Markeson, James Armendariz, Scott Girtler, Courtney Hartle, Jared Chrz, Chris Maziarka, Angie Grotberg, Tim Schroeder, Nick Wellman, Andrew Harren, Brent Brass, Jacob Kaplan, Elizabeth Gruenhagen, Greta Luiken, Barbara Kietzman, and Christine Worke.