Shelly’s Safety Day is a free event held annually by West River Health Services for children grades one to six in memory of Shelly Boxrud Johnson. Its purpose is to teach our youth about safety in a fun and interesting way. This year the focus was on medical safety, water, farm, large equipment, railroad, sun and seatbelt safety. Along with the event this year, car seat safety checks were available from 10 am-1 pm in the Granary parking lot.
The day started with Julie Kramlich, NDSU Extension Agent teaching about farm safety. Julie had hands on farm safety activities. One involved placing a wooden dowel inside a hot dog to represent the bone inside a person’s great toe. The hot dog was placed in various types of footwear, and then a gate was dropped on it to demonstrate how important it is to wear boots on the farm as opposed to flip flops!
Next, the WRHS Ambulance taught the kids about hands-only CPR, first aid, and gave them a tour of the ambulance. The Adam’s County Sheriff’s Department taught the children about bike safety. They then instructed on the importance of seatbelt safety, with a special guest, Annie Johnson present, daughter of Shelly Boxrud Johnson. The children then enjoyed an exciting seatbelt relay race using two RZ Motor vehicles.
Theron Schalesky, ND DOT sat down with the kids to teach them about large equipment safety. They even got to see pieces of equipment in person and get a view of the world from the seat of a snowplow.
A little before noon, the kids and helpers sat down to a delicious meal served and donated by Scruffy’s. Then they headed out to play at Mirror Lake Park. Some shade was sought and Patty Ness instructed the children on sun safety. Each child received a sun screen stick and a bracelet that turns purple in UV light as a reminder to put on sunscreen, courtesy of the ND Cancer Coalition. The ND Safety Council provided railroad safety handouts which were distributed to the children.
Lifeguards from the Hettinger Pool made a fun appearance with hands on activities teaching the children about water safety. Water Noodles were used to demonstrate how to ‘Reach or Throw, Don’t Go.’
West River Health Services would like to thank all the great people who took time to help make our children safe and/or provided supplies for the day: NDSU Extension Service, WRHS Ambulance, Adams County Sheriff’s Department, ND Department of Transportation, the Granary, Hettinger Park Board/Hettinger Pool, Scruffy’s, RZ Motors, Annie Johnson, North Dakota Cancer Coalition, North Dakota Department of Health and North Dakota Safety Council. A big thank you also goes out to all of the kids who took part in our day!