“What else are you going to do on a Tuesday night,” Wiscasset Police Sgt. Craig Worster said Friday. In an interview at the station, he said a community event on a Tuesday might get fewer takers than a weekend one, but at least the Aug. 7 National Night Out at the community playground on Gardiner Road won’t have competition for event-seekers.

The local event Wiscasset Parks and Recreation has organized with public safety officials is part of the nationwide one, always held the first Tuesday in August, Parks and Recreation Director Lisa Thompson said. She worked on the event in South Portland several years as the city's recreation manager.

Residents at the free, community block party will get to engage with their local public safety workers, she said. “I really hope it takes off here. I hope the community receives it well and comes out and has a good time.”

Worster said he and another officer, to be determined, will be there. A seat belt challenge will have teams of four, family or otherwise, exiting a car, switching seats and then buckling up. The activity he said he got from Camp Postcard shows how little time it takes to put on a seat belt, Worster said. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Dennison and a dog he works with will give a canine officer demonstration, Worster said.

Tuesday night, attendees can also meet new Wiscasset Superintendent of Schools Terry Wood, and possibly dunk her in the dunk tank. Wood said she, husband Rodney “Branch” Wood and daughters Hannah and Naomi will be helping at the event and she has volunteered for the dunk tank. She has before elsewhere, and is looking forward to meeting with residents on a more personal level outside work, Wood said.

Other plans include a bounce house, hula hoop, hopscotch and whatever food people bring. The playground has two grills, or three if a recently, anonymously donated one arrives by then to replace the one that went missing, Thompson said. A table-decorating contest is planned, categories to be determined, she said.

National Night Out’s national sponsor Target is providing prizes for the event, Thompson said. She said parking is limited at the playground and may be barred Tuesday night due to the activities, and Gardiner Road, or Route 27, has no parking. So she asked that event-goers please park at Wiscasset Community Center or Wiscasset Middle High School.

The event runs 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.