ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — The Orange Beach Police Department wants kids in the city to have one last summer fling and for the past four years has provided one.

Taking a cue from “National Night Out”, a 27-year event aimed  at crime/drug prevention, the department began a “Kids’ Night Out” in the city’s Waterfront Park in 2007.

“We revamped it,” Assistant Chief Greg Duck said. “(It’s) A little get together for kids before school starts.”

This year’s event was schedule for Monday, but storms and dangerous lightning forced a postponement until Tuesday.

Duck said about half the inflatables had to be taken down, but the company, Funtime, agreed to keep about a half dozen on site for Tuesday.

“We were able to negotiate with  the water slide people to keep about half of what they had out here free of charge,” Duck said. Baldwin County Electrical Membership Cooperative provided power to run the inflatable for free.

Duck says community support for the event is a key. This year, BP is footing the bill.

“In past years it’s been sponsored by local businesses,’’ he said. “It was sponsored by Columbia Southern last year. We have volunteers to help us from Columbia Southern, several area churches and all the police officers here tonight are volunteering their time.”

In addition to the water slides and bounce houses, kids and parents are provided with hotdogs, chips and drinks. Parents were also given DNA and fingerprint packets to document their children.

Another big assist came from the Orange Beach Fire Department.

“They help us set up and we use their canteen,” Duck said. “That helps a lot.