Jacarriah Johnson plays on an inflatable obstacle course at the Boys and Girls Club and Sheriff’s Posse Fun Day Mon., June 22 at the Sheriff’s Posse Showgrounds in Hartselle.| Joy Haynes

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Posse and the area Boys and Girls Clubs hosted a Fun Day at the Posse Showgrounds in Hartselle to let kids have fun and learn about safety at the same time Mon., June 22.

This was the first Fun Day at the posse grounds, but Sheriff Ana Franklin said it will hopefully continue.

“Hopefully this can be an annual summer program that we can provide for our local Boys and Girls Clubs,” Franklin said. “We had a really great turnout this year despite the heat with about 250 kids. The Boys and Girls Club approached us about hosting a Fun Day to teach safety, and we were glad to get to do it. We love having events at the arena, so we offered to have it here. Hopefully it will grow into a big annual event.”

Members of the Sheriff’s Posse, several deputies, student resource officers and other volunteers were on hand to lead the activities.

Inflatables, a dunk tank, sprinklers and games were set up for kids to visit and enjoy. Relay races were conducted throughout the day to add a little competition. The sheriff’s department brought their drug trailer to teach kids about the signs and dangers of drug use. They also brought a helicopter and a military vehicle for kids to explore. Volunteers led kids around the arena on horse rides.

The Grand Mason Lodge of Alabama had stations set up to equip kids with their own child identification packets. They collected pertinent information in helping locate a missing child including a photo, voice recording of answers to personal questions, fingerprints and a physical description for kids to take home to their parents. In case of an emergency where the child came up missing, parents can take that packet to the police to help locate them.

These packets include a paper and CD version of everything to kids free of charge. Rising Sun Lodge No. 29 in Decatur has been providing these packets for about three years now. They have done school sessions of child ID packages with Lacey’s Spring and Priceville, and are available to do other groups and organizations.