NOON OPTIMISTS PREPARE SAFETY CITY FOR NEW SEASON

Jackson Noon Optimist Club members are preparing for their 10th season at Safety City USA. Safety City, a child-sized town located west of the lake in the Jackson City Park, quickly became one of the most popular areas in the Jackson park system.

April 8 found many families from Cape Girardeau, Perryville and Jackson enjoying the playground area and miniature roadways at Safety City. Children could be found on scooters, roller blades, bicycles or riding in strollers as parents and grandparents sat relaxing on the park benches, observing and enjoying the activity.

Safety City USA is a miniature village, complete with roadways, buildings, traffic signs and a playground where children and their families can take their bicycles and learn to practice safety. Safety City was built in 1992 by the Jackson Noon Optimist Club with the assistance of many local businesses and interested persons and was built entirely with donated time, labor and materials.

Members of the club, assisted by the city of Jackson and the Junior Optimist Club, will be busy in the upcoming weeks, preparing Safety City for the classes that will be held on May 5 and 12. Bicycles will be checked to ensure their safety, tires inflated, roadways will be striped and buildings repaired. Club members will be cleaning the grounds and planting new flowers at Safety City on Park Day, April 28.

Classes at Safety City are taught by members of the Noon Optimist Club, assisted by the Jackson police and fire departments. Children attending the classes will receive a free bicycle helmet, a T-shirt and lots of safety-related information in areas of traffic and fire safety, stranger danger, substance abuse and pedestrian safety. Children will be taught the importance of helmet usage and how to be sure their helmet fits properly.

Registration for the classes will be held on Saturday, April 21, at the Jackson City Library's community room from 9 a.m.-noon.

Any child in kindergarten through third grade may participate in the program. The sessions on May 5 and 12 will be from 9-11 a.m., noon-2 p.m. or 3-5 p.m. Information and registration forms will be sent home with children in the Jackson and Oak Ridge Schools as well as Immaculate Conception Catholic School and St. Paul Lutheran School. Anyone needing more information should contact Shelly Littleton, Safety City chairperson, at 243-7525.