Grassy Creek Christian Church hosts Safety Awareness Day

  • KSP Trooper David Jones talks with Juanita Hughes, holding Myles, as her granddaughter takes pictures and her other grandson takes advantage of the fun.
    KSP Trooper David Jones talks with Juanita Hughes, holding Myles, as her granddaughter takes pictures and her other grandson takes advantage of the fun.
  • Asst. Fire Chief Travis Reis allows children to help with the hose as others have fun in the spray.
    Asst. Fire Chief Travis Reis allows children to help with the hose as others have fun in the spray.
  • A tyke tries on a fire helmet from Northern Pendleton Fire Department.
    A tyke tries on a fire helmet from Northern Pendleton Fire Department.

By Nila Harris

On Tuesday, July 11th, GCCC hosted a Safety Awareness Day. Their purpose was to make sure all students coming there would be safe, allow them to see what firefighters look and sound like in uniform, get identification cards made with photos and vital information, meet police officers and EMS staff, see the insides of a cruiser, ambulance, and fire truck, and to have fun!

In the mid 2000s Tim Monks helped organize a Safety Day at the church where he was working at the time. As the current youth minister at Grassy Creek Christian Church, Monks has a heart for children and wanted to do something similar for the county.

Fellow parishioner Eric Conrad with the Pendleton County Sheriff’s Office arranged for the different entities to be available on that day. Monks was pleasantly surprised when Conrad told him, “We’ve got two fire departments, the Sheriff’s Department, EMS, and the State Police (coming).”

Church members Amy Andrews, Amy Hurst, and Sue Stahl worked at the photo ID booth. Roger Hurst, Arvil Pennington, and Diane Sissel grilled hot dogs. Tom Pike and Kirt Brown helped with parking. Head Start was available with information about their program. Mia Mathis, a teen who would like to be a professional photographer one day, got her feet wet by photographing the event.

Monks estimated that 90 children and their families were in attendance and was pleased with the turnout. It impressed him at how the adults played and interacted with the children. He was also greatly appreciative of all the help his church members provided.  Because of the positive response, GCCC plans to make this an annual event.

The kids seemed to have a blast, exploring the vehicles, meeting firefighters, getting wet from fire hoses, and having their faces painted. Four-year-old Easton Stahl was still wearing his policeman badge sticker eight hours later and informed Monks, “I’m a Junior Trooper!”