It’s become a fall ritual: Davis Neighbors Night Out, a celebration of community, a time for block parties aimed at fostering good rapport among UC Davis students and their neighbors.

This year’s event, the 10th annual, is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 11. Neighbors Night Out is sponsored by UC Davis and its student government, and the city of Davis.

The Davis Neighbors Night Out website declares: “We believe that starting the academic year on a positive note will reduce the potential for misunderstandings or conflicts by opening lines of communication among all residents.”

There’s a safety element, too: “We believe connected neighborhoods make safer neighborhoods; residents look out for one another if there is a connection.”

Individuals, neighborhood associations, Neighborhood Watch liaisons, apartment complexes and homeowner associations are invited to be party sponsors (and to register as such as on the Davis Neighbors Night Out website; click on "Party Sponsor Form" near the upper right-hand corner)..

Each party sponsor is asked to take the lead in organizing a potluck dinner or a barbecue, an appetizer potluck, a dessert party or an ice cream social where neighbors can introduce themselves and exchange phone numbers for Neighborhood Watch lists or future neighborhood events.

Party sponsors can handle their own invitations, or can receive city assistance (the city can print your invitations for you to distribute, or the city can print and distribute).

The organizers are arranging for special guests — for example, campus administrators, or the mayor and other members of the City Council — to visit parties around the city. Party sponsors who sign up prior to Sept. 18 will be eligible for a lottery to be assured of special guests.

Gunrock, campus and city police and fire units, and one of Unitrans' historic double-decker buses from London also will be making the rounds.

The organizers ask party sponsors to schedule their events during the time frame of noon to 7 p.m. Other guidelines are listed on the Davis Neighbors Night Out website.

Need assistance with invitations or have questions?

UC Davis contact: Mabel Salon, (530) 754-2187 or masalon@ucdavis.edu.

City of Davis contacts: Carrie Dyer, (530) 757-5602, or cdyer@cityofdavis.org; or Kellie Vitaich at the Police Department, (530) 747-5400, or kvitaich@cityofdavis.org.

Davis Neighbors Night Out on Facebook.

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