National Night Out downtown Italy at the Pavilion Tuesday night was quite the success! There were over 200 people there eating hotdogs, line dancing, visiting and just having a great time. Mayor Hobbs was even spotted dancing in the line dance!

Children were seen having fun in the bounce houses, getting their faces painted and eating cotton candy. They also were collecting badge stickers, bracelets and other goodies.

And talk about entertainment! The Italy ISD cheerleaders dazzled us all with all their cheers and acrobatic routines! Even the IYAA cheerleaders were there with the brightest smiles.

Ronald McDonald was there pulling all kinds of tricks out of his hat. Ronald stayed through out the evening walking through the crowds handing out cookies and bringing smiles to everyones faces.

Italy Police Chief Hill with another officer demonstrated training equipment with paint ball guns. When they shot the gun paint balls stuck to the training vests the officers were wearing. It was quite the demonstration.

Ronald McDonald was not the only one representing McDonalds supporting the community. Cindy Sanders from McDonalds was one of the people painting faces with butterflies, spiderman and zebra stripes. The owner of McDonalds of Italy, Jonnetta Hardin, was there handing out cookies. She said, “It is so nice to see so much community involvement. This is the second year we have participated in Italy’s National Night Out and we are more than happy to be here showing our support to the community.”

Chief Hill was very pleased with the turnout. He said, “I am very proud of the large turn out this year. This is the best one so far. This shows the pride the community has in their town. Italy Police Department is dedicated to promoting safety all year long. I am very proud to be Italy’s police chief.”