The line remained long and steady as Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun kept heaving his chlorine-soaked self back onto the platform.
Some of the contestants beaned the target in three throws, making the dunk tank a popular challenge for Hobart’s Little League set during the city’s National Night Out celebration at County Line Orchard Tuesday evening. For those who didn’t hit it right away, the Hobart Police Department’s three newest recruits, hot off their classes down at the Police Academy in Plainfield, led the throwers to the target and let them give it a punch.
And the new recruits loved the privilege.
“Are you kidding? We’re getting set up for success here!” Hobart Ofc. J.D. Peczul said.
“I thought this was part of our promotion,” Ofc. Chris Stroh added, laughing.
National Nights Out popped up all over Northwest Indiana Tuesday night, and Hobart’s has grown verily over the last five years, said Andrea Graciano, the police department’s vicitm services coordinator who put on the event with Sarah Martin. The city used to hold it at Festival Park but moved it over to the orchard for more room.
One of the reasons for the increase could be the swag kids were able to get their hands on. All vendors at the event were required to hand out school supplies of some sort, Hobart Police Chief Garrett Ciszewski said.
“It could be just a pencil, but we have others giving out book bags, too,” he said as he steeled himself to take Huddlestun’s spot in the dunk tank.
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Huddlestun, who playfully trash-talked his son’s teammates as they kept taking turns dipping him in the drink, was proud of the coalition the departments formed to make its National Night Out a success. Everyone was having a good time, which was all he wanted to see.
Julian Argandona, 12; and his sister Alina, 9, were interested in the Bearcat the NWI SWAT brought out to display. Julian took advantage of the whole experience and donned the helmet and flack jacket, while Alina was happier posing in her civilian garb for pictures.
“I saw lots of cool stuff,” Alina said. “I like to do something challenging, like go outside and arrest people or pull them over.”
“I got to see a lot of nice people and see some workshops,” Julian said. “If Olympic wrestling doesn’t work out for me, I’ll be a cop for sure!”
Hobart’s Fire Department showed up and showed out as well, likely surprising attendees who don’t know all the services the department provides. They brought out their drone, its water rescue dive truck and set up a tripod to demonstrate what a confined-space rescue would be like, Fire Chief Enrique Lopez said.
“A lot of the community doesn’t realize we’re trained in a lot of different disciplines: Hazmat, water rescue and technical rescue,” Lopez said. “Even though we’re not alone Lake Michigan, we have Lake George, Robinson Lake ke and Maple Lake, so we’re pretty busy.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.