SAFETY CITY U.S.A.: IN THIS `TOWN' ON OPTIMIST HILL, BICYCLE SAFETY IS NAME OF GAME

JACKSON -- A boy wearing a bright blue safety helmet rides up to a stop sign on his bicycle, raises his left arm to signal a turn, waits for a small girl on a Big Wheel to pass by and turns safely into traffic.

The boy behind him does not come to a complete stop, nor does he signal before turning in front of another child.

"I'm going to write you a ticket for that!" an instructor warns him. "You have to stop and signal; I'm keeping my eye on you."

This was only a fraction of the activity during one of Saturday's bicycle safety classes, hosted by the Jackson Noon Optimist Club at "Safety City U.S.A." in the Jackson City Park.

The motto of the Jackson Noon Optimist Club, "Working with today's youth to build a better tomorrow," is evident in the groups efforts with the bicycle safety project.

"The kids are our future - they are our tomorrow," said Beverly Nelson, chairman of the Safety City project. "We are not only teaching the children bicycle safety, we are encouraging them to be good citizens.

"It takes the efforts of everyone to improve a community," Nelson continued. "We have to start with the children - we can't change the adults."

Nelson and several volunteers of the Noon Optimist Club held three, two-hour seminars Saturday, extolling the virtues of bicycle safety to children in grades K-4.

The Noon Optimists began the program last year, after hearing a lecture by Sharee Galnore, coordinator of the traffic safety/community affairs division of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"Sharee did a program on Cape Girardeau's Safety Village last year, and it really got us interested," Nelson said. "After we got going, we were borrowing the video tapes from her to have the programs for the kids."

Jackson's Safety City is located on Optimist Hill in the Jackson City Park. It consists of a maze of "streets," all no wider than the average sidewalk, painted and marked as city streets. A "child-sized" wooden schoolhouse sits at the far end of the course.

But what sets Jackson's Safety City apart from other similar projects is that the entire project was completed with donations of private funds and volunteer labor of area residents.

"I'm the city collector, so I started talking to a couple of contractors I knew when we were tossing around the idea of building our own safety city," Nelson said. "The response was overwhelming."

Engineers, drafters, construction workers and other professionals pooled their time and efforts in the design and construction of the bicycle course.

"It turned out that all we had to do was to put the word out and volunteers came from all directions," Nelson said. "I was shocked; we couldn't have done any of this without everyone's generosity and consideration."

Not only was the course designed and constructed at no cost to the city, but the Noon Optimists purchased the Schwinn bicycles and Big Wheels (equipped with safety belts) for the children to use on the course during the classes.

Boatmen's Bank and Capital Bank donated the funds to the Noon Optimists to make it possible for them to purchase safety helmets from the Safe Kids Coalition of Southeast Missouri.

"This was a community project from the start," Nelson said. "That's what makes it such a success."

Last year the Noon Optimists offered the class to the first 200 children who signed up. This year, they raised that number to 250, and still had a waiting list.

"There's only so many we can take and still do a good job," Nelson said. "Our primary objective is to be effective; to reach the children. We can't do that with large classes."

The safety program begins with classroom instruction, which covers the rules of the road, pedestrian safety, bicycle safety and seat belt laws. The "roadways" allow the children to have a safe place in which to practice those techniques under the supervision of the instructors.

The instructors serve as "police officers" on the course, blowing whistles at children who do not obey the traffic signs and advising them of the correct manner in which to ride.

"The kids will fuss at each other if they catch them not doing what they just learned," Nelson said. "I really wish the parents were here to listen to them - they would see themselves on the highway, griping at the motorist in front of them."

The instructors also serve as pedestrians throughout the course, crossing the "street" on marked crosswalks, hoping the children will remember to yield the right of way.

"We're teaching them to exercise caution no mater what they're doing," Nelson said. "They learn to pay attention and to be courteous to everyone else on the road.

"Safety City truly is a labor of love," Nelson said. "A love of children."

Cathy Goodman of Gordonville brought her 6-year-old daughter, Malerie, to the workshop Saturday.

"We came to this last year and my daughter loved it," Goodman said. "She told me that if I didn't sign her up for the classes, she would sign herself up.

"I really think it's beneficial," she said. "The kids really do learn a lot from these courses. Malerie uses many of the skills she learns here at home."

Nine-year-old Daniel Vandeven and 6-year-old Derek Williams said that they enjoyed the classes and learned how to use hand signals when turning at stop signs.

"I got a helmet for Christmas," Vandeven said. "I wear it all the time and now I'm going to use the hand signals, too."

"The hand signals are hard to remember, but I'm going to practice a lot," Williams added. I had a really good time."

Garrett Williams, 10, said that he enjoyed the video tape, which was shown to the group before they hit the course.

"We all have to be more safe when we ride our bicycles," Williams said. "You can bet I'm going to be."