NEWBERRY — Come one, come all to the Newberry Electric Cooperative’s first Community Child Safety Day on April 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office parking lot.
This event is designed to help lessen the chances of an accident happening.
“In society as a whole, when you turn on the T.V. these days you hear about all these accidents, people getting killed on four wheelers, gun accidents, you name it it is out there. We are very passionate about safety, as an electric company we have to live safety, that is what we tell our guys every day, you have to eat, drink, sleep and live safety,” said Debra Shaw, vice president of public relations at NEC. “It is one of our passions to reach out to the kids in the community and prevent any accents we possibly can.”
The Community Child Safety Day is something Shaw has been wanting to do for a while. The Co-op tried to hold it last year, but it got late in the year and Shaw said they really could not work it in.
“Boating safety and life jacket safety, and of course gun safety is good any time. We are going to be doing the child safety seat checks, and of course that is good anytime as well, but we are kind of targeting spring/summer activities, kids getting out of school and just kind of thinking about the spring time of year,” Shaw said.
Shaw has gathered multiple city, county and state agencies to talk to children about safety, including the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, Newberry County Dive Team, Rescue Squad Station 14 and 17, City of Newberry Fire Department, Department of Natural Resources and the City of Newberry Police Department.
“They are using the parking lot as a good central location. There will be all kinds of emergency service vehicles and displays, and the Sheriff’s Office will be there and our primary mission will be child safety seat inspections,” said Sheriff Lee Foster. “There always is confusion how a child safety seat should be installed, and the laws regarding how children should be restrained in cars. We will be there to assist people with putting child safety seats in their cars, and assist with questions about when they can be in a forward facing seat, a rear facing seat and when they can sit in the front seat of the car.”
DNR representatives will discuss boating safety and shooting safety, as well as life jackets. There will also be a multitude of vehicles for children to explore, including heavy rescue truck, a fire truck, ambulance and a police car. Youths will also be given a chance to meet some of the county’s bloodhounds.
The Co-op will have some of their trucks for youths to explore plus a safety display with real voltage to demonstrate why you shouldn’t fly a kite near a power line, climb a tree near a power line or touch a fallen power line. This demonstration will be put on by Alex Brandt and Nick Shealy.
Dr. Wade Verch with Carolina West Clinic of Chiropractic will demonstrate backpack safety.
“Everyone wants to do what is best for their child, but not everyone knows is the school-age years are crucial years for not only their mental and educational development, but for their physical development as well. We must take into account what habits and day-to-day rituals the child has that can have an impact on them long term. Everything from their posture to the weight of their backpack, over time, can affect their health for the rest of their lives,” Verch said. “We will be performing free backpack checks and Scoliosis screenings for the kids this weekend. Also, we will be offering unique opportunities to both kids and parents to make appointments if appropriate. All proceeds from which will be donated to the Newberry public school system.”
A few bouncy houses will be provided by Stewart Smith of Smith Cleaning and ServPro will be giving out popcorn and popsicles while Mac Bell with Newberry Sonic will be giving out free hot dogs, tea and water.
“Door prizes will be given away every hour, you do not have to be present to win something. We will have registration and they will have to put their phone number on the ticket for us,” Shaw said.
Prizes will revolve around safety, like life jackets and helmets plus there will be miniature lineman trucks, fishing items and Simply Southern T-shirts donated by Pee Dee Outfitters.
Shaw is looking for a local organization to help with parking. She said that NEC will make a donation to the group for them to send several people to direct parking. If you have a group that would be interested call Shaw at 803-276-1121.