TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Suncoast Pasco News

Safety Town Needs Money and Volunteers

ADVERTISEMENT

By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: October 6, 2007

SHADY HILLS, Fla. - SHADY HILLS, Fla. - Safety Town officials don't have to talk down to youngsters.

That's why the miniaturized safety-education center remains so popular with grade-school students on field trips since all the small buildings and other features are built at their eye level, according to Cpl. Timothy Spitzer of the Pasco Sheriff's Office.

Spitzer, a former school resource officer, is the coordinator of Safety Town.

Safety Town helps impart valuable lessons to help reduce accidental injuries and deaths of children.

More children die or become disabled from preventable injuries than all childhood diseases combined, Spitzer underscored.

Children who start fires run a very high risk of perishing in the blaze. Bicycle and pedestrian accidents also maim many youngsters.

The leading cause of death among young children remains drowning. Florida has twice as many drownings as the national average.

So, last year almost 6,000 students passed through the miniaturized village, Spitzer pointed out. Safety Town is on S.R. 52, less than a mile west of Suncoast Parkway.

The Sheriff Office-run attraction draws not only from Pasco County, but also Hernando, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Polk counties, Spitzer noted.

An adjacent training facility is visited by close to 10,000 adults as well.

The village is used for bicycle rodeos or training grounds for school crossing guards.

At Safety Town students pass through 11 "learning stages," Spitzer explained – pedestrian safety, bicycle safety, water safety, fire safety, electrical safety, the right way to call 911, safety around animals, stranger danger and using safety belts.

"The kids we teach are kindergarten through third grade" primarily, he added. Buildings are about one-third scale, a kid-friendly size, he said.

The scaled-down replica of a Home Depot building anchors the 15 buildings of Safety Town sponsored by various businesses. Safety Town was built over the course of a number of years, primarily with donated labor and materials.

"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," according to its Web site.

Safety Town is its own nonprofit corporation, Spitzer emphasized. Donations are the prime source of money to keep the attraction open.

Spitzer came on board as coordinator in November 2006 after Cpl. Randy Packard, who held the coordinator's post for a number of years, retired.

Capt. Brian Moyer, another veteran of youth-oriented programs at the Sheriff's Office, is president of the Safety Town board.

This year Safety Town has been coordinating with the newly formed Pasco Safe Kids Council.

"They are a valuable resource for networking," Spitzer said. More than 40 people attended the first meeting of the council a few months ago.

Spitzer is excited about the possibility of Safety Town gaining an additional entrance. Access with a traffic signal would go through the proposed Lonestar subdivision. Construction could start in six months.

The S.R. 52 entrance has no deceleration lane, making it tough to turn right from the westbound lane, Spitzer noted.

Safety Town always needs a constant stream of volunteers, Spitzer said. He can be reached at 813-929-1203 for information or to arrange field trips.

More information on Pasco Safety Town is available on the Sheriff's Office Web site.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT