The Community and its leaders came together on Saturday, Oct. 17 for the 20-year anniversary celebration of Safety Town, the child-sized city that teaches young children important safety habits. The celebration included tours, SWAT and K9 demonstrations.

Volunteer Nellie Robinson - an incredibly gifted person, has volunteered hundreds of hours of her time to Pasco Safety Town every year for the past 20 years. She is the brains of the operation and her spirt and drive motivate everyone around her. Her heart is with every child that comes through the town learning the important life safety lessons that are taught at Pasco Safety Town. She was honored at the event for her more than 20 years of support of teaching children to be safe. Pasco Sheriff's Captain and Safety Town President James Mallo was on hand to thank all award recipients.

http://pascosheriff.com/1296-2/

Under the direction of Cpl. Karl Crawford, Safety Town is a realistic, child-sized town designed to provide a complete hands-on safety education for children. The town has paved streets, working traffic signals, miniature buildings, and even a railroad crossing, all designed to be as authentic as possible to provide the most exciting, most effective safety training for children available anywhere. Safety Town is truly a community project. It has been created through the support and cooperation of many businesses, public and private agencies, and civic organizations.

Safety Town is designed to provide hands on educational instruction to young children, from kindergarten to second grade, about ages 5-8 years old. The town has paved streets, working traffic signals, and miniature buildings. The goal of Safety Town is to reduce accidental injuries and death of children through preventable incidents. Volunteers who have been trained by education and safety professionals teach the children.

Safety topics at Safety Town include pedestrian; school bus; bicycle; water; fire; electrical; animal, stranger danger, boating, railroad crossing, safety belts, and how to dial 911.

Safety Town started as an idea when then-Sheriff Jim Gillum and community leaders came together in 1990 to develop a safety education program for the county’s children. Five years later, Safety Town opened under then-Sheriff Lee Cannon and 20 years later, more than 123,000 children have received the benefit of the project’s lessons. This includes not only Pasco schoolchildren, but also kids from neighboring counties.

Safety Town operates in cooperation with the Pasco County School Board and the Concourse Council, and daily operations are overseen by the Pasco Sheriff’s Office. Hundreds of businesses, social organizations, and citizens have provided funding to create and maintain the infrastructure and many safety features of Safety Town over the years.

Safety Town is located on State Road 52 about a half-mile west of the Suncoast Parkway. The 20-year celebration began at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, and was open to the public. Tours of Safety Town were provided after the celebration ceremony, which began at noon. Additional scheduled events after the ceremony included:

• A bike helmet giveaway to children in attendance, while supplies last
• A SWAT and K9 team demonstration
• A visit by McGruff, the Crimefighting Dog
• The PSO Marine unit
• Eddie the Eagle (firearm safety)
• Games provided by All Children’s Hospital

Safety Town’s motto is:
Tell me and I will forget
Show me and I may remember
Involve me and I will understand