BY MARY JANE FARMER

HERALD DEMOCRAT

Winding its way across Grayson County, taking the highways and the byways, the Grayson County Unity Caravan is allowing itself up to 30 minutes at each stop to provide the law enforcement officers making the trek a longer visit with those they help serve and protect.

Texoma Night Out, the yearly crime-prevention program centered around town or neighborhood block parties, has annually featured the Unity Caravan, consisting of patrol cars and officers from towns across Grayson County who are out there eager to meet old friends and make new ones among the population.

This year's Unity Caravan begins at noon Saturday when it pulls up to Sherwood Shores fire station. The everyone in or visiting that area is urged to be on hand to welcome the caravan in. They'll know when it's arriving by the sound of sirens coming from each patrol car. From there, the caravan will take the following route and, hopefully, stay on the following timetable.

1:15 p.m., Pottsboro's Friendship Park;

2:05 p.m., Denison's Fall Festival being held in the 300-400 blocks of W. Crawford;

3:15 p.m., Whitewright's City Park;

4 p.m., Tom Bean's Elementary School;

4:45 p.m., Howe's downtown area;

5:35 p.m., Gunter's City Park;

6:30 p.m., Southmayd's Elementary School;

7:30 p.m., Tioga fire station;

8:06 p.m. Collinsville fire station;

8:45 p.m., Whitesboro's Godwin Park.

Sherman will be hosting National Night Out block parties Tuesday night, and those schedules will be listed in Sunday's paper.

Van Alstyne held its annual National Night Out block party in August, and this year the communities of Gordonville, Sadler, and Bells have decided not to participate.

Before and after each of these stops, towns are coming together at their individual block parties.

Texoma Night Out and National Night Out are similar in that they bring neighbors together. With those relationships in place, criminals are less able to invade the neighborhood. Anyone can set up a block party. All it takes is notifying one's neighbors of the place and time, contacting the local law enforcement agency of the plans, maybe getting out the grill and letting children play together, and, most importantly, meeting one another with handshakes.