The eighth annual Perry Public Safety Day was celebrated under cloudy skies and comfortable temperatures Saturday, bringing Perry-area youngsters — and adults, too — free hands-on experience with tools of police officers, firefighters, ambulance paramedics and public works crews and useful information about the health services available at the Dallas County Hospital.
The annual event was staged in the parking lot of the Perry Hy-Vee, where kids enjoyed displays and demos of all kinds and a chance to inspect a wide variety of public-service equipment, from ladder trucks and the Jaws of Life to police patrol cars and the Perry First Responders vehicle.
The MercyOne air ambulance was too busy on its life-saving missions to stop in Perry, but the bloodmobile was on hand to accept donations, and the Dallas County EMS, Dallas County Sheriff and Perry Police Department were greeting the public. Visitors had their pictures taken with all the equipment and can sign their names on a Perry Public Works Department snow plow.
“This is a fun event that brings people here and shows them the important work done for the community by the Perry Public Safety Department,” said Larry Vodenik of Perry, longtime community event coordinator.
