POTD: Wow, you’re really big

Metro Wire Staff

A young boy looks up with uncertainty at a greeting from Smokey the Bear on May 20.

Smokey was one of several special guests at Saturday’s Portage Co. Safety Fair, held on the Mark Motors Toyota grounds in Plover.

The 16th annual affair welcomed area families to a day of educational fun provided by the hands of local community and civic groups, as well as police, fire, and EMS departments.

This year’s event included child fingerprinting and safety activities, face painting, a fire department rescue tool demonstration, fire safety smoke house, boat simulator, hands-only CPR training, boating and weather safety, and safe bicycling habits.

Co-organizer Tim Durigan, chief operating officer for Mark Toyota’s sales division, said it was “a great turnout, probably about double what we had last year.”

The date of the event was chosen intentionally, Durigan said, because it’s sandwiched between National Police Week and National EMS Week.

“We’ve always tried to get the safety fair to land between those dates for those who do so much for us,” he said.