HOLMES BEACH – There were holiday songs, free food, prizes galore, a 100-foot-long bounce house, police, fire trucks and much more at the Sleigh Bell Social on Dec. 14 at City Field.
Previously, the event was known as National Night Out, a collaboration between the city’s police and code compliance departments to foster relations between the community and local law enforcement. The event ended after the 2019 gathering due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everybody from the city is involved, all the different departments were involved and everybody helped out,” Police Chief Bill Tokajer said. “None of this was paid for by the city, there were no tax dollars whatsoever. This was all made possible by donations from our local businesses. We’ve had a huge response from city businesses that have been great for us.”
Tokajer said they were able to give away more than 70 bicycles at the event thanks to donations from the community. There were hundreds of toys given out, along with food from local restaurants, making this an event that brightened the holidays for a number of families. The Sun was one of the event sponsors.
Tokajer also said the event will continue for years to come and he expects it to get bigger and better every year.
