Safe Communities opened the HCI parking lot up to bike riders on May 26, as they hosted their fifth annual bike rodeo and safety day.
The day featured many activities for the kids including a bicycle safety check, helmet fitting, and obstacle course.
A number of organizations also stopped by for the day including the Acquired Brain Injury Team, SGI Safety Squad, RCMP Traffic Division Motorcycle Unit, Humboldt Aquatic Centre Water Safety, SGI Rollover simulator, and Humboldt’s Fire
Department Rescue Unit, Humboldt and District Ambulance Service, and Humboldt RCMP.
Being able to host so many organizations for the event was nice, says Safe Communities Executive Director Shari Hinz, who noted they generally work with local partners.
“It gets them out into the community and working with our youth and families in a different way. Instead of an emergency response situation, it’s a positive day filled with lots of education and opportunities for families to pick up a smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector and learn about fire safety.”
In total approximately 40 children took part in the safety day, which Hinz says considering all the other things going on was quite a good number.
This year’s event was a little different for Safe Communities, with a new date and location, a move, that was made to try and increase attendance, said Hinz.
It seemed to work, says Hinz, who noted the response from both the other organizations, as well as those in attendance was good.
“Having it as a stand alone event for a couple of hours in the morning I think worked really well for us so I think it’s something we’ll certainly revisit in the future.”
Of course, Safe Communities also received a bit of luck, with rain holding off long enough for the event to stay dry from start to finish.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better morning. It started off cooler and a bit hazy but the sun came out and a nice breeze so we really lucked out considering what took place later in the afternoon with the storm system that moved through,” Hinz noted.
With the day being about safety, Hinz says the key is to promote helmet use, not only among children but adults as well.
“When (parents) hop on a quad or on an ATV/UTV unit, if they’re not wearing a helmet, they’re not strapping in with a seatbelt on those particular items, there’s always people watching, kids and their family included. They model the behaviour that they’re shown so it’s really important I think for us to foster that choice in terms of using helmets.”
Hinz would like to thank all of those who helped make the day a success, and says work will begin shortly to get ready for next year.
