July 21, 2025 • 11 mins
Police-community relationships often fluctuate like a rollercoaster, affected by events across the nation in ways most professions never experience. Yet in Walker, Michigan, a unique partnership between electrical contractor Feyen ZyIstra and the Walker Police Department is creating a stable foundation of trust and connection through their annual National Night Out block party.
When Feyen ZyIstra moved into the former Fairview Elementary School building, they made a conscious decision to be good neighbors. This commitment, paired with recognition of tense community-police relations nationally, sparked the creation of what has become one of Walker's largest community events. Over a decade later, their August block party draws families from across the area for an evening of entertainment, giveaways, and meaningful interaction with local first responders.
Officer Tyler Glass explains that these casual encounters humanize police officers while giving residents comfortable opportunities to ask safety questions outside formal settings. Meanwhile, E.B. Sondheim from Fines-Islestra notes the profound generational impact—children who first attended as toddlers now return as teenagers, creating lasting community bonds. The event represents a modern approach to neighborhood safety at a time when traditional neighborhood watch groups have largely given way to social media connections.
Beyond the free hot dogs, bounce houses, and bike giveaways, the block party embodies a powerful message about community resilience. As Officer Glass shares practical neighborhood safety tips—from evening walks to security cameras to locking vehicles—he emphasizes that creating safer communities remains a shared responsibility built on relationships and trust.
Want to experience this community-building event firsthand? Join Feyen ZyIstra on August 5th from 6:00-8:30pm at their headquarters across from Meijer on Alpine Avenue. Bring your family, meet your local officers, and discover how businesses and public safety can unite to strengthen neighborhoods one connection at a time.
If you have comments about this podcast, or ideas for future episodes, please email us at PODCAST@WALKER.CITY
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Well, the first Tuesday in August is known as
National Night Out.
That helps promotepolice-community interactions,
positive relationships, andFines-Islestra, which is a
Walker-based business, hosts ahuge block party for the
community on that day.
And here to speak more aboutthe party as well as what
residents can do in their ownneighborhoods, we have EB
(00:22):
Sondheim from Fines-Islestra andOfficer Tyler Glass with the
Walker Police Department.
Appreciate you both being heretoday.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Thanks so much for having us.
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So, eby, we'll start with you For folks who may not
know what Finds Islestra does,what is Finds Islestra and what
really caused this passion forcommunity interaction.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure, you might not know exactly who FI and Zylstra
is, but you've probably seen ourvans and trucks around.
We're the blue vans and trucks.
You can also call us FZ, it's alittle easier to say.
We are a national electricalcontractor and we're
headquartered right here in thecity of Walker.
We also have branches inTraverse City, Kalamazoo and
down south as well.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
All right, wonderful, and you really took on this
National Night Out initiativeand this party and it has grown
for over a decade.
So where did that come from?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Sure.
So when we moved into theneighborhood we took over the
old Fairview Elementary Schooland we wanted to ensure that we
were a great partner to theexisting community.
There is residential in thearea and we wanted them to know
that we were a great partner tothe existing community.
There is residential in thearea and we wanted them to know
that we were here to be goodneighbors and here to stay.
And that was the driving factorof initially getting involved
in National Night Out.
(01:33):
I would say it was also at atime when community and police
relations were tense and we feltit was a good opportunity to be
the hub of community, comingtogether for the good Local
politicians, state politicians,police, fire businesses and
neighbors.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, and that is the purpose of that is creating,
just you know, breaking downmaybe barriers or walls and
making it easier to access yourpolice and your fire.
And Tyler, how does you knowWalker PD kind of come into play
with this.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
So a big thing that we do well Fane's Alstro.
They pretty much do everythingfor us setting up and they're
they're a great partner with itbecause it takes a lot of a lot
of stress and stuff off of uswhen we have other stuff we're
doing, whether it's taking callsand other stuff going on in the
city.
So they're a great partner tohave in this.
But what the event does andwhat I think it's so great at
doing is one it's a nationalprogram.
(02:28):
So it's going on all around theworld and, like EB said, law
enforcement, communityrelationships it's like a roller
coaster it's up, it's down, attimes it's great and then if
something happens across thecountry it sends shockwaves
across the nation andcommunities everywhere.
It's a very rare career fieldwhere that happens and it
(02:51):
doesn't happen in most othercareers.
So this, I think, is just such agreat way to help benefit and
foster community police, firerelationships with everybody and
it's just a general area whereeverybody can have such a sense
of community, because havingthat sense of community is huge,
with people and then them justbeing in one central location
(03:12):
where they can come and try andask us questions.
You know how do I keep myneighborhood safer.
This is an issue we see ongoingand sometimes it's easier for
them to do that than it is to.
They feel more comfortabledoing that just out in a public
place than maybe coming into thepolice department for certain
people.
And then it's also a way to seeus out interacting with the
(03:33):
public and not in our regularduties of taking calls and stuff
like that.
We're out interacting with kidsand they're just seeing a
different side of us, that humanside of us, in these community
events.
So overall I feel like it'sjust such a great event to build
that relationship and it's sogreat that a business like
Fane's Astra in our city puts iton for us.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
It is awesome.
I think there's reallysomething to what you said about
having fun together, right.
You guys are having a lot offun at the event too.
The kids are having fun, theadults who brought the kids are
having.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Everyone is there enjoying a nice summer night out
as community, and just seeingeach other in that way helps
going forward throughout theyear, yeah absolutely, and
that's and that's one of the oneof the perks of doing this job
is when you, when you get out inthe community and somebody,
somebody just comes up to youand ask you how you're doing
Cause because so many times,from call to call to call,
(04:25):
whatever it is, we can deal withtough things throughout the day
that most people don't eventhink about that would happen.
We're dealing with people andhelping people in the worst day
of their lives and it's just.
It's such a refreshing event tosee people that are there and
coming up to you and justtalking to you.
They'll hey, I have this goingon.
We've been seeing this samevehicle driving through our
neighborhood type thing andthey're there and we can figure
(04:46):
out ways to help them.
Just briefly Maybe not the mostofficial capacity, but just
more of a laid back thing.
And then some people probablyhave never seen some of us.
I mean, we have a relativelylarge department.
Some of these people have nevereven had interactions with us
because they just haven't neededus right.
So they're there and we'rehanding out stickers and candy
and all this stuff to the kidsand it's yeah, I mean overall
(05:08):
it's just, it's such a coolevent, it's fun and it happens
all over the county and thecountry on August 5th.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Wonderful and we'll get to the details in a few
moments.
And you know, gone are the days, really, of the traditional
neighborhood watches and of thethings that maybe encourage
neighbors to look out for eachother.
So, in this day and age, whatkind of replaces that and how
can neighborhoods look to createtheir own safer, tight knit
community if they don't havethat traditional neighborhood
watch?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
So it's true, neighborhood watch groups have
kind of gone by the wayside andI think a big factor in that has
been the social media aspect ofthings the wayside, and I think
a big factor in that has beenthe social media aspect of
things no longer do.
I think people need to gettogether once a month or every
other month, whatever it is, tosay, hey, I've been noticing
this going on.
This has been the issue in theneighborhood.
I think right now, pretty muchevery neighborhood just has a
Facebook page and they just goon there and that's where where
(05:58):
their their problems, concernsand everything are voiced in
there.
We do still have oneneighborhood that still has a
neighborhood watch and theystill do a national night out as
well, because traditionallythat's what national night out
was designed for theneighborhood watch groups to
have block parties, stuff likethat, and now I think it's gone
more towards businesses nowsupporting it and doing that
stuff along with the policedepartment, fire department.
(06:20):
When it comes to what people cando to protect their
neighborhood, um, it's verysimple stuff.
Um, something like keepingtheir, your, your house well lit
.
Okay, typically, if somebody isgoing to try and do something,
if they see that it's well lit,it'll kind of deter them.
We see that it kind of detersthem.
Another one is security cameras.
You can get a pretty simple,cheap ring blink security camera
(06:44):
off Amazon that you can throwup that just alerts your phone
at night if there's any motionor anything outside your house.
Another one that you can do inyour neighborhood is evening
walks.
Okay, like later evening walkskind of, when you know
everybody's after dinner they'rekind of shutting down their
house.
You and a friend, a friend, aneighbor, whatever go walk the
(07:05):
neighborhoods.
If you see somebody's garagedoor open, shoot them a text
message if you have their phonenumber.
If not, knock on the door.
Shoot a message on facebook.
Say, hey, just doing a walkthrough, notice your garage door
is open.
Yeah, um, is it supposed to beotherwise?
It's just a friendly reminder.
Hey, shut it, because a lot ofcriminals their crimes of
opportunity so they'll drivethrough a neighborhood.
They'll see a garage door.
(07:26):
That's when they go inside yourgarage and take your stuff.
We also see that with vehiclebreak-ins making sure your
vehicle is locked up, because alot of these vehicle break-ins
we get it's because a car wasleft unlocked.
They're not typically notsaying they don't, they
typically will not smash outyour window.
Sometimes they do, but that'swhat we see is.
(07:51):
It's that crime of opportunityand they're looking for quick
cash, stuff of value, so thatthey can get that.
So purses, money, change, allthat stuff.
Try not to keep that in there,uh.
Another one is firearms, okay,uh, a firearm is a vehicle.
A locked vehicle is not a safe,okay, um.
So if you do, if you are a CPLholder, you do have a firearm.
Make sure you're getting thatout of your vehicle and bringing
it in.
And again, these Facebookgroups If you had your vehicle
(08:13):
gone through something like that, shoot a message out.
Say hey, reminder, let's alllock your vehicles.
Social media is great in thataspect where you can reach a lot
of people in just a coupleseconds because you're shooting
that message out.
If you're somebody that'spassionate about it, maybe you
can start monthly reminders likehey, let's keep our lights on
on our house at night, let'smake sure garage doors are shut,
(08:36):
let's make sure our vehiclesare locked.
So there's numerous things youcan do without an official
neighborhood watch group Great.
However, if you do have oneestablished and it's
well-organized and stuff, andyou do have questions, want an
officer to come out and speakwith your neighborhood watch
group.
We're more than willing to comeout and do that for you.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, wonderful, and that's kind of what these block
parties were to do traditionallyyears past.
Neighbors knew each other.
They went out, you know, andnow we may tend to keep to
ourselves a little bit more, butthat's kind of how Finds Ouster
comes in with their annualblock party and tell us a little
bit more about that and whatfolks can expect too, if this is
the first time they may happento be hearing about it.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Sure, yeah Well, encourage everyone to come out.
It's great for all ages.
Again, it's on August 5th, from6 to 8.30pm, right in our front
lot, which is right across fromthe Meyer on Alpine, so join us
there.
We've got a lot of stageentertainment.
We give away bikes and poolsand prizes, so the police and
(09:38):
the fire department are thererunning activities and
interacting with communitymembers balloon twisters, free
hot dogs and ice cream andbounce houses.
It's just a great time for allages.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, completely free events.
And what have you seen over the10 years or so that this has
been going on?
How do you feel kind ofwhenever you see everyone coming
enjoying themselves, getting tointeract with everybody?
You see everyone comingenjoying themselves, getting to
interact with everybody.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It's a big sense of pride to be able to build
something up with such a greatpartner like the City of Walker
and the Walker City Police.
It's become so much bigger thanwhen it started and it's been
so rewarding to see some of thesame kids that were three years
old on their first visit toNational Night Out are, or now
in their teens, still comingback with their friends and
(10:24):
family.
Overall, just such a rewardingexperience.
To kind of have an overview,look at it over the years.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yes, and if you're passing down on Alpine you can
definitely notice it.
It has gotten bigger and it'sjust such a great thing for this
community.
We appreciate both of yourpartnerships and beyond for
everything that you do to helpkeep our community connected,
safer and just improving thequality of life here in walker.
So, eb and tyler, thank you somuch and we thank you for
(10:52):
watching us as well okay.
Well, the first Tuesday in August is known as
National Night Out.
That helps promotepolice-community interactions,
positive relationships, andFines-Islestra, which is a
Walker-based business, hosts ahuge block party for the
community on that day.
And here to speak more aboutthe party as well as what
residents can do in their ownneighborhoods, we have EB
(00:22):
Sondheim from Fines-Islestra andOfficer Tyler Glass with the
Walker Police Department.
Appreciate you both being heretoday.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Thanks so much for having us.
Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So, eby, we'll start with you For folks who may not
know what Finds Islestra does,what is Finds Islestra and what
really caused this passion forcommunity interaction.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure, you might not know exactly who FI and Zylstra
is, but you've probably seen ourvans and trucks around.
We're the blue vans and trucks.
You can also call us FZ, it's alittle easier to say.
We are a national electricalcontractor and we're
headquartered right here in thecity of Walker.
We also have branches inTraverse City, Kalamazoo and
down south as well.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
All right, wonderful, and you really took on this
National Night Out initiativeand this party and it has grown
for over a decade.
So where did that come from?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Sure.
So when we moved into theneighborhood we took over the
old Fairview Elementary Schooland we wanted to ensure that we
were a great partner to theexisting community.
There is residential in thearea and we wanted them to know
that we were a great partner tothe existing community.
There is residential in thearea and we wanted them to know
that we were here to be goodneighbors and here to stay.
And that was the driving factorof initially getting involved
in National Night Out.
(01:33):
I would say it was also at atime when community and police
relations were tense and we feltit was a good opportunity to be
the hub of community, comingtogether for the good Local
politicians, state politicians,police, fire businesses and
neighbors.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, and that is the purpose of that is creating,
just you know, breaking downmaybe barriers or walls and
making it easier to access yourpolice and your fire.
And Tyler, how does you knowWalker PD kind of come into play
with this.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
So a big thing that we do well Fane's Alstro.
They pretty much do everythingfor us setting up and they're
they're a great partner with itbecause it takes a lot of a lot
of stress and stuff off of uswhen we have other stuff we're
doing, whether it's taking callsand other stuff going on in the
city.
So they're a great partner tohave in this.
But what the event does andwhat I think it's so great at
doing is one it's a nationalprogram.
(02:28):
So it's going on all around theworld and, like EB said, law
enforcement, communityrelationships it's like a roller
coaster it's up, it's down, attimes it's great and then if
something happens across thecountry it sends shockwaves
across the nation andcommunities everywhere.
It's a very rare career fieldwhere that happens and it
(02:51):
doesn't happen in most othercareers.
So this, I think, is just such agreat way to help benefit and
foster community police, firerelationships with everybody and
it's just a general area whereeverybody can have such a sense
of community, because havingthat sense of community is huge,
with people and then them justbeing in one central location
(03:12):
where they can come and try andask us questions.
You know how do I keep myneighborhood safer.
This is an issue we see ongoingand sometimes it's easier for
them to do that than it is to.
They feel more comfortabledoing that just out in a public
place than maybe coming into thepolice department for certain
people.
And then it's also a way to seeus out interacting with the
(03:33):
public and not in our regularduties of taking calls and stuff
like that.
We're out interacting with kidsand they're just seeing a
different side of us, that humanside of us, in these community
events.
So overall I feel like it'sjust such a great event to build
that relationship and it's sogreat that a business like
Fane's Astra in our city puts iton for us.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
It is awesome.
I think there's reallysomething to what you said about
having fun together, right.
You guys are having a lot offun at the event too.
The kids are having fun, theadults who brought the kids are
having.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Everyone is there enjoying a nice summer night out
as community, and just seeingeach other in that way helps
going forward throughout theyear, yeah absolutely, and
that's and that's one of the oneof the perks of doing this job
is when you, when you get out inthe community and somebody,
somebody just comes up to youand ask you how you're doing
Cause because so many times,from call to call to call,
(04:25):
whatever it is, we can deal withtough things throughout the day
that most people don't eventhink about that would happen.
We're dealing with people andhelping people in the worst day
of their lives and it's just.
It's such a refreshing event tosee people that are there and
coming up to you and justtalking to you.
They'll hey, I have this goingon.
We've been seeing this samevehicle driving through our
neighborhood type thing andthey're there and we can figure
(04:46):
out ways to help them.
Just briefly Maybe not the mostofficial capacity, but just
more of a laid back thing.
And then some people probablyhave never seen some of us.
I mean, we have a relativelylarge department.
Some of these people have nevereven had interactions with us
because they just haven't neededus right.
So they're there and we'rehanding out stickers and candy
and all this stuff to the kidsand it's yeah, I mean overall
(05:08):
it's just, it's such a coolevent, it's fun and it happens
all over the county and thecountry on August 5th.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Wonderful and we'll get to the details in a few
moments.
And you know, gone are the days, really, of the traditional
neighborhood watches and of thethings that maybe encourage
neighbors to look out for eachother.
So, in this day and age, whatkind of replaces that and how
can neighborhoods look to createtheir own safer, tight knit
community if they don't havethat traditional neighborhood
watch?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
So it's true, neighborhood watch groups have
kind of gone by the wayside andI think a big factor in that has
been the social media aspect ofthings the wayside, and I think
a big factor in that has beenthe social media aspect of
things no longer do.
I think people need to gettogether once a month or every
other month, whatever it is, tosay, hey, I've been noticing
this going on.
This has been the issue in theneighborhood.
I think right now, pretty muchevery neighborhood just has a
Facebook page and they just goon there and that's where where
(05:58):
their their problems, concernsand everything are voiced in
there.
We do still have oneneighborhood that still has a
neighborhood watch and theystill do a national night out as
well, because traditionallythat's what national night out
was designed for theneighborhood watch groups to
have block parties, stuff likethat, and now I think it's gone
more towards businesses nowsupporting it and doing that
stuff along with the policedepartment, fire department.
(06:20):
When it comes to what people cando to protect their
neighborhood, um, it's verysimple stuff.
Um, something like keepingtheir, your, your house well lit
.
Okay, typically, if somebody isgoing to try and do something,
if they see that it's well lit,it'll kind of deter them.
We see that it kind of detersthem.
Another one is security cameras.
You can get a pretty simple,cheap ring blink security camera
(06:44):
off Amazon that you can throwup that just alerts your phone
at night if there's any motionor anything outside your house.
Another one that you can do inyour neighborhood is evening
walks.
Okay, like later evening walkskind of, when you know
everybody's after dinner they'rekind of shutting down their
house.
You and a friend, a friend, aneighbor, whatever go walk the
(07:05):
neighborhoods.
If you see somebody's garagedoor open, shoot them a text
message if you have their phonenumber.
If not, knock on the door.
Shoot a message on facebook.
Say, hey, just doing a walkthrough, notice your garage door
is open.
Yeah, um, is it supposed to beotherwise?
It's just a friendly reminder.
Hey, shut it, because a lot ofcriminals their crimes of
opportunity so they'll drivethrough a neighborhood.
They'll see a garage door.
(07:26):
That's when they go inside yourgarage and take your stuff.
We also see that with vehiclebreak-ins making sure your
vehicle is locked up, because alot of these vehicle break-ins
we get it's because a car wasleft unlocked.
They're not typically notsaying they don't, they
typically will not smash outyour window.
Sometimes they do, but that'swhat we see is.
(07:51):
It's that crime of opportunityand they're looking for quick
cash, stuff of value, so thatthey can get that.
So purses, money, change, allthat stuff.
Try not to keep that in there,uh.
Another one is firearms, okay,uh, a firearm is a vehicle.
A locked vehicle is not a safe,okay, um.
So if you do, if you are a CPLholder, you do have a firearm.
Make sure you're getting thatout of your vehicle and bringing
it in.
And again, these Facebookgroups If you had your vehicle
(08:13):
gone through something like that, shoot a message out.
Say hey, reminder, let's alllock your vehicles.
Social media is great in thataspect where you can reach a lot
of people in just a coupleseconds because you're shooting
that message out.
If you're somebody that'spassionate about it, maybe you
can start monthly reminders likehey, let's keep our lights on
on our house at night, let'smake sure garage doors are shut,
(08:36):
let's make sure our vehiclesare locked.
So there's numerous things youcan do without an official
neighborhood watch group Great.
However, if you do have oneestablished and it's
well-organized and stuff, andyou do have questions, want an
officer to come out and speakwith your neighborhood watch
group.
We're more than willing to comeout and do that for you.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Yeah, wonderful, and that's kind of what these block
parties were to do traditionallyyears past.
Neighbors knew each other.
They went out, you know, andnow we may tend to keep to
ourselves a little bit more, butthat's kind of how Finds Ouster
comes in with their annualblock party and tell us a little
bit more about that and whatfolks can expect too, if this is
the first time they may happento be hearing about it.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Sure, yeah Well, encourage everyone to come out.
It's great for all ages.
Again, it's on August 5th, from6 to 8.30pm, right in our front
lot, which is right across fromthe Meyer on Alpine, so join us
there.
We've got a lot of stageentertainment.
We give away bikes and poolsand prizes, so the police and
(09:38):
the fire department are thererunning activities and
interacting with communitymembers balloon twisters, free
hot dogs and ice cream andbounce houses.
It's just a great time for allages.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, completely free events.
And what have you seen over the10 years or so that this has
been going on?
How do you feel kind ofwhenever you see everyone coming
enjoying themselves, getting tointeract with everybody?
You see everyone comingenjoying themselves, getting to
interact with everybody.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
It's a big sense of pride to be able to build
something up with such a greatpartner like the City of Walker
and the Walker City Police.
It's become so much bigger thanwhen it started and it's been
so rewarding to see some of thesame kids that were three years
old on their first visit toNational Night Out are, or now
in their teens, still comingback with their friends and
(10:24):
family.
Overall, just such a rewardingexperience.
To kind of have an overview,look at it over the years.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yes, and if you're passing down on Alpine you can
definitely notice it.
It has gotten bigger and it'sjust such a great thing for this
community.
We appreciate both of yourpartnerships and beyond for
everything that you do to helpkeep our community connected,
safer and just improving thequality of life here in walker.
So, eb and tyler, thank you somuch and we thank you for
(10:52):
watching us as well okay.
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