Public Market Bike Rodeos Round up Kids for Fun Safety Lessons
Our goal has been to take this opportunity when kids are out of school to educate them about bicycle safety in a fun and interactive way.
Local groups are taking advantage of the idle days of summer vacation to get some serious messages across to kids. Ten community activist groups have banded together to make the Rochester Public Market a place of learning for children at recreation centers in the City of Rochester this summer.
“Our goal has been to take this opportunity when kids are out of school to educate them about bicycle safety in a fun and interactive way,” said Jean Triest of the Monroe County Office of Traffic Safety and member of Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Rochester (IFCKR). “The kids love the change of scenery and we love having a chance to work with them.”
Groups of children from recreation centers are bussed to the public market and move between interactive safety displays in small groups. Triest and other members of IFCKR’s Kohl’s Pedal Patrol fit each child with properly sized helmets and hold bike rodeos – bicycle safety games and competitions – for the children.
The eight scheduled events, which are based around the bike rodeos, have been offered to interested recreation centers through July. Members of IFCKR, based out of Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center, have held bike rodeos for several years but found a new home thanks to Jim Farr, director of the Rochester Public Market, who agreed to host the bike rodeos at the city’s public market. IFCKR invited other agencies to participate.
IFCKR, 911, Friends of the Public Market, Rochester Fire Department, Monroe County Recycle Program, National Counsel for Missing and Exploited Children, Prevention Partners, Rural Metro and H2O Hero participated in the last event of the summer, which took place at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 29, at the Rochester Public Market, located at 280 N. Union St. Children from South Avenue, Field Street and Carter Street Recreation Centers attended Wednesday’s event, which included safety tips about riding bicycles, preventing fires, avoiding poisonous substances and staying safe on the Internet. Children also learned about ways to save the environment, keep drinking water clean and the benefits of visiting the public market.
IFCKR and participating agencies hope to hold the bike rodeos at the public market again next year and to extend the invitation to day care centers as well. Information about events at the Rochester Public Market is available at www.cityofrochester.gov. To learn more about IFCKR, visit www.injuryfree.org and search for Rochester, NY.