SMALL `VILLAGE' TO HELP KIDS LEARN OF SAFETY

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A miniature village filled with traffic lights, intersecting roadways and crosswalks will help area children learn about traffic safety this summer.

The layout, known as "Safety Village," will be offered through the Cape Girardeau County Community Traffic Safety program. Starting June 10, and for an individual fee of $10, children ages 5 to 8 can learn about traffic safety by making use of the layout in a two-week, 20-hour program.

"They'll either be riding bicycles or the Big Wheels and they'll get to actually practice what they've been taught," traffic safety program coordinator Sharee Galnore said. "It gives them an opportunity to learn traffic safety in a safe environment."

Program sessions will be offered for 2 hours four days a week.

Children participating in the program will spend half their time with classroom work and the other half in the village. They will learn about bicycle, pedestrian, seat-belt, railroad, and school-bus safety from a uniformed Cape Girardeau police officer.

Said Galnore: "It's just routine activities of walking down the street, riding a bike, traveling in a school bus ... that can end in tragedy if children aren't taught proper traffic safety. This will be an opportunity for parents to have their children educated in that area."

Helping out with the village will be members of the Cape Girardeau Police Department's Explorer post.

Safety Village will be at the two tennis courts in Missouri Park, said Galnore. The classroom work will be done at Washington School.

The site will be prepared by the city of Cape Girardeau and volunteers from service clubs, she said.

Preparation of the village site will require a lot of volunteer work, she said. The surface of the tennis courts will have to be painted and the sidewalks and crosswalks will have to be put in.

Along with that, organizers are hoping to make use of miniature railroad crossings. "We're still in the forming stage," said Galnore, "but that's our plan."

Aside from traffic concerns, the program will touch upon fire and water safety and poison prevention. The children will also be exposed to other segments of the community that are safety oriented such as ambulances, hospitals and the fire department.

Use of the police officer will help to teach children that an officer is their friend and someone they can turn to for help, said Galnore.

Galnore said she didn't know how many other programs exist in Missouri that are similar to Safety Village.

"It's certainly one of the first ones in our area. It's something that the traffic safety program has looked at doing the last couple of years, and it's just come together this year."

She said she knew of one similar program in St. Joseph and another one that was being planned in Springfield. Other communities in the state have also had the programs on a temporary basis, she said.

The local village, Galnore said, will be permanent in the sense that it will remain in place and will be available for use by civic groups on a limited basis.

So far a few Cape Girardeau organizations have expressed interest in helping out with the Safety Village, she said. The traffic safety program also will be approaching additional civic organizations for help.

Galnore identified the organizations that have expressed interest as the Breakfast and Noon optimist clubs and the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, all of which involve themselves with bicycle safety.

Any organizations or individuals who wish to help with the village should call Galnore during day time work hours at 335-3377.