The "Halton Police Children's Safety Village" was the vision of Chief W. I. James Harding of the Halton Regional Police. He used his office and persuasive force to raise funds and design the first Safety Village in Canada. It opened on May 11, 1987. The layou and design was impressive, but the structural design of the buildings and the work done by the contrator was of poor quality. Their thought as the time was "After all, it's only a make-believe building".
The Optimist Club of Oakville became involved in 1993 when the Safety Village was in such ill repair that it was going to have to closed. The leaking roofs resulted in rotting the structure of the buildings. Along with the Optimist Clubs of Georgetown, Milton, Burlington and Upper Burlington a project was launched to rebuild the Safety Village. The prject was a natural for Optimism, since approximately 14,000 childre from the Halton Region have the opportunity of going through the safety progam at the Village each year. Six buildings were rebuilt, three buildings were added and the existing portable classroom was removed and was replaced with a permanent building. The basement of the new classroom building is the Optimist Club of Oakville meeting room. The Optimist Club of Oakvile provides ongoing maintenance and repairs for the Safety Village.
Police Officers provid the safety lessons to Kindergarten, Grade 2 and Grade 3 students. The younger students learn "Elmer's Seven Safety Rules" and pedestrian safety. Grade 2 students drive the battery-operated cars and Grade 3 studets ride bicycles and learn the rules of the road and bicycle safety. In addtion, school bus safety is taught with an actual bus on site and respect for power lines is reviewed with replicated power lines and equipment. The hands-on training is most effective in teaching safety.
For information on the Halton Police Children's Safety Village please click on INFORMATION.
