National Night Out to be held at Adams Park

Roslindale will gather together on Tuesday night in Adams Park to celebrate National Night Out.

National Night Out, which has been taking place for decades, invites residents to spend time with their neighbors to promote community spirit and foster relationships with law enforcement. Since its inception, the event has grown to annually include 35 million participants.

At the Roslindale event, which kicks off around 6 p.m., a handful of community activists will be honored for their efforts to improve the quality of life in Rozzie. It will be the eleventh time that Roslindale hosts a National Night Out. In addition to the awards that will be handed out, promoters of the event said there will be entertainment, free ice cream, packaged snacks, drinks, and information tables featuring services such as the Greater Roslindale Health and Dental Center.

Honorees include Roslindale resident Karen Payne. Payne, who works as the director of the NAACP in Boston, will receive recognition for her work as a Healthy Roslindale Board member and for serving on the Area E-5 Police advisory board.

Another Healthy Roslindale supporter who will be honored is Angelina Miller. Miller, who is in her 80s, is an active member of the community who has worked tirelessly to improve public safety. According to Cathy Slade of Healthy Roslindale, Miller is an example of the “perfect neighbor.”

“She checks up on people, helps them go shopping, and she knows what it is to be a good neighbor,” said Slade of the oldest honoree.

Deborah Bloom, who is largely known for her involvement in the Diversity Dialogues, will also be recognized on Tuesday night.

“She’s held more dialogues in Roslindale than anyone else in the whole city and interested in getting people together and get young people involved in diversity dialogue and somebody worked and modified curriculum,” said Slade of the woman who works to promote discussion between groups of people with dissimilar backgrounds.

Awards will also be bestowed upon Laurie Jo Wallace, Marna Perschini and Mary Mulvey Jacobson. At a larger celebration hosted by the city at Franklin Park Zoo, the Penfield Crime Watch group will be recognized as one of Boston’s top 10 Crime Watches.

Jessica Smith can be reached at jsmith@cnc.com