Rural safety classes are a generational event

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

More than 220 children learned about farm and rural safety at the Floyd County Fairgrounds Tuesday morning.

“We have all of the fourth-graders in Floyd County here,” said Lesley Milius, executive director for the Floyd County ISU Extension Office .

Charles City and Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock FFA students helped present the demonstrations.

“They’re here helping to teach some of the safety sessions,” Milius said. “Also to help coordinate areas that are needed, like lunch.”

The event gives the FFA students a chance to get out of school and work on their presentation and mentoring skills, Milius said.

The FFA students worked in groups to give presentations on tractor safety, ATV and lawn mower safety, animal safety and more , said Charles City FFA Director Jim Lundberg.

“We have a lot of thing going on,” Lundberg said.

The FFA students have been working on their presentations since the beginning of the school year, Lundberg said.

“They kind of grow into it,” he said.

The fourth-graders learned about livestock and tractor safety, and emergency management, Milius said. Floyd County Conservation and the National Weather Service gave classes to the students on poisonous plants and on hazardous weather.

“They’re here learning about all of those kind of things,” Milius said.

Also present at the event were two crash test dummies, Vince and Larry.

They were there to help provide traffic safety tips and making it fun for the kids present, Milius said.

“We also have a recruitment session for 4-H,” Milius said. “It is their year to enroll in 4-H.”

The safety event has been put on for more than 20 years in Floyd County, with generations of students going through.

“It’s interesting because the kids presenting now, they went through it in fourth grade,” Lundberg said.

Several of Lundberg’s former students who are farming across the street from the Floyd County Fairground went through the event when they were in school, he said.

“Now they’re adults here today,” Lundberg said.

“I have been involved since I’ve been here, so about 16 years,” Milius said. “It is always fourth-graders for the farm safety event.”

The event was assisted by the Floyd County Extension Office, Floyd County Conservation, Floyd County Sheriffs Office, Floyd County Emergency Management, Butler County Extension, REC and 4-H and ISU Extension for Butler and Floyd counties.