LA PLATA — Neighborhoods in Charles County that cannot pull off their own National Night Out will have a county-hosted one to join every year.
The Charles County Commissioners on Oct. 27 approved Resolution 2026-16, establishing an annual countywide National Night Out run by the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism. The event will rotate among the four commissioner districts and be held on county-owned property, open to residents from anywhere in the county. The vote was by voice, with no opposition heard.
National Night Out, held nationally each August, brings residents together with police, firefighters and EMS crews at block parties and community gatherings. In Charles, those events have largely been organized neighborhood by neighborhood, often by homeowners associations. That leaves out communities without an HOA or the money to stage one.
Filling a gap
Commissioner Thomasina O. Coates of District 2, who requested the resolution, said she heard from residents while visiting National Night Out events across the county that many communities wanted to take part but could not. She described the countywide event as an equitable option for neighborhoods without HOAs or resour...