By Kayla Lien | [email protected]

The national event, Night Out Against Crime, was held at Fairmont Park on Aug. 1 as a way for Sugar House residents to meet their local law enforcement officers, as well as talk with neighbors, enjoy music and learn about some interesting birds.

“We’re here at the Night Out Against Crime promoting safety and law enforcement,” said Tim Cosgrove, Mayor Jackie Biskupski’s community liaison. Other organizations in attendance included the police department, firefighters, the Explorers, members of the Salt Lake Community Council, as well as nearby businesses spreading buzz about their companies. 

Trevor Hansen, physical training advisor for the Explorers, said, “It’s just an opportunity for the community to interact with officers. The Explorers do a lot of it, I think we have about 15 here tonight. Basically, you can just ask questions and interact with them.” 

The Explorers are teens and young adults who learn everything a police officer would before they enter a police academy. Explorer Juanita Dye stated, “We’re cadets for the Salt Lake City Police Department. We do a lot of voluntary work, we do a lot of community service.” 

Explorer Hannah Petersson added, “We’re basically the display of the department. So, we’re trying to get the youth and the police department more together.” 

Providing entertainment for the crowd were the teen bands from MusicGarage. MusicGarage is an organization dedicated to teaching music students how to perform, write and record original, classic and modern rock, blues jazz and bluegrass music. 

EQUINOX played a mix of modern and classic rock songs, including “Wake Me Up When September Ends” by Green Day and “Enter Sandman” from Metallica. The Troubled Youth Blues Band payed homage to the roots of American music.  Jordan Jaramillo, guitarist and vocalist of EQUINOX noted, “There’s a lot of learning at each rehearsal, and they sorta match you up according to personality, music taste and skill.”

EQUINOX’s Jarod Phillips, vocalist and guitar player, said, “They don’t teach you how to play, they just teach you how to play together.”

Another guitarist/vocalist of EQUINOX, Lyndi Wadsworth, explained, “You go and sign up and we just go in once a week. We have rehearsals. Every once in a while we’ll get gigs.”

EQUINOX’s drummer Grant McDonald, added, “You have to have, like, some skill. Like enough to know what you’re doing, but it’s pretty low entry. As long as you have basic understanding about what you’re playing they’ll let you in.” Bass guitarist Jacob Peterson played for both EQUINOX and the Troubled Youth Blues Band. 

Troubled Youth Blues Band’s vocalist Courtney Spaulding said, “When I was 14, I joined MusicGarage, which is the [organization] we work for, and that was the first time I’ve ever played in a band, and now I’m 17, and I’m still doing band stuff.”

Along with musical entertainment, there were people in a penguin suit and a griffon suit, as well as a remote-controlled police car holding a stuffed wolf. Earthwings, an organization that provides educational avian programs for schools, businesses and special events was there showing off their birds. On exhibit was an African pied crow named Sheryl, who collected donations from people, as well as Pumpkin, an Eurasian eagle-owl.

Stacey Breidenstein, store manager of Natural Grocers, noted, “I think they’re really trying to make a presence here [at Fairmont] because it is a community park, and you know, there is a homeless population. We acknowledge that. We want to make sure people feel comfortable in this park.”