At 7:15 this morning 180 soon-to-be third-graders descended upon Riley Lake Park to participate in the 20th anniversary of the City of Eden Prairie’s Safety Camp. The Camp is a joint effort of the Eden Prairie Police, Fire and Parks and Recreation Departments and is a two-day event which teaches kids a variety of safety tips.
The Red Team at the Opening Ceremony
The day started cool and cloudy with a few sprinkles but that did not dampen the spirits of the campers or counselors who were visited at the opening ceremony by McGruff the Crime Prevention Dog, Sparky the Fire Dog and Smokey the Bear. The campers are divided into six teams with a firefighter, police officer, park and recreation staff member and youth volunteers as counselors for each group.
The groups then rotated through three sessions at varying locations around Riley Lake Park learning about home safety & poison, electrical safety and violence prevention and personal safety. At 10:15 the campers looked to the sky and saw a Minnesota Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter landing in the field. Campers had a chance to walk around the helicopter and listen to the three Guard pilots discuss safety around aircraft and how to work as a team.
The Purple Team practices "stop, drop & roll"
After a lunch compliments of McDonalds, campers went to sessions on street maintenance safety and seatbelt safety. The afternoon also included a safety scavenger hunt and a police and firefighter uniform relay race. The final event of the day was a team competition bucket brigade and swimming at the beach.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post from day two of Safety Camp!
