Crossing guards bring back morning program

Danielle Switalski

Two new volunteers have joined the Crossing Guard program which has led to the reinstatement of the morning program, which was cut at the start of the school year due to lack of volunteers.

School Nurse Del Zetterberg and Charlene Itleberg have decided to volunteer their time in the before school hours of 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning to see the kids safely across Railroad St., the main intersection which sees heavy traffic of both cars and kids.

“In the winter, I pass this intersection in the morning and it’s dark and I don’t think kids should be walking across the road with no supervision in the dark.  There should be a stoplight or a crossing guard at least, other wise it is not safe for people to cross,” said Zetterberg.

The crossing guard program has had a morning program for the past ten years, said organizer Doris Larson, and this was the first year they did not have enough volunteers to keep it going because three of their regular guards had to retire for various reasons.

“I have a granddaughter in first grade and I’m a retired person so I thought I could do something useful,” said Itelberg as to why she decided to get involved with the program.

The crossing guards conducted an unofficial survey to judge the number of cars that pass through during the before school and after school hours.  The survey showed an average of between 250 and 350, give or take, vehicles going past the intersection on a given morning.  In an afteroon, between 350 and 450 vehicles went by during the time the crossing guards are on duty.  The numbers that came through were very high, and Doris Larson saw the continuing need and importance for the morning program.

“This is not just for the kids, but for the people trying to get across to go to the post office,” said Larson.

Although the morning program is back on and kids will be able to safely cross the road, there is still a need for more volunteers as substitutes in case one of the regularly scheduled guards is not able to make their shift.

The two new guards had training on Friday afternoon when school let out where they learned proper cone placement and correct crossing techniques.

“We are not here to direct traffic, just to see kids safely across the street,” said Zetterberg.

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