February 24, 2016
A hunt for beeping eggs St. Charles County Easter egg hunt for special needs children includes beeping eggs for the visually impaired
Around Town
Girl Scouts making a difference
By Brett Auten The St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Department along with the St. Charles County Police Department invite the community to attend a family fun egg hunt on March 19 at the Youth Activity Park, located at 7801 Highway N, in Dardenne Prairie. In addition to the annual hunt, which is for children up to age 12, this year brings the welcome addition of an egg hunt for children with special needs. The Visually Impaired Hunt will showcase a neat invention, beeping eggs. Corporal Steve Case, who is also the Department’s Bomb Squad commander, said the eggs are a simple, yet effective invention. “It is basically a large, plastic egg, the kind you would find with Pop Rocks and Easter stickers in them,” Case said. “We take everything out of them, put in a switch that is wired to a nine-volt battery and a speaker. We put a few holes in the egg and the kids follow the beep until they find it and turn it off. Then they exchange the beeping egg for one that is filled with goodies.” The beeping eggs are not just used for hunts in the spring time. “They are used throughout the year,” Case said. “Therapists and teachers will implement them in the classroom, asking where the sound came from, whether it was up high or down low. They are good for multi-tasking.” At the end of the event each participant in this hunt can take home one beeping egg and of course there will be prizes, all participants are invited to participate in the outside hunt as well as enjoy a variety of egg-themed games inside the park complex. Located directly behind Town Square 12, the Youth Activity Park will be segmented into three sections to accommodate children with special needs for the purpose of not over-stimulating them.
3
Around Town
4
Pending land purchase for WSD
School
8
New Superintendent in FHSD Photo by Ray Rockwell St. Charles County Police Department Corporal Steve Case, who is also the department’s Bomb Squad commander, helped develop the beeping eggs for the St. Charles County Egg Hunt for Special Needs Children.
There will even be a “quiet area” available for families to retreat to at their pleasure. It is open to children on both sides of the river and there is no cost to attend the Egg Hunt for Special Needs Children; however, space is limited. Parents are asked to accompany their children. Siblings and caretakers are also invited to assist the egg hunters. The hunts times are staggered: 1 p.m. for the Sensory Impaired Hunt, 1:30 p.m. for the Mobility Impaired Hunt and 2 p.m. for the Visually Impaired Hunt. There is a $5 fee per participant to participate in the Annual Easter Egg Hunt (Quiet Room not available with this hunt). The hunt times are: 10 a.m. for ages three-and-under, 10:30 a.m. for ages four-to-six and 11 a.m. for ages seven-to-12. “We are all pretty excited,” Case said. “It’s cool. We have never been involved in the hunt before.” Other event features include a visit from the Easter Bunny, Ronald McDonald and SCCPD’s robotic K9, Officer KC (a kid friendly robotic police officer), complementary drinks from the McDonald’s Drink Runner, a photo booth,
egg-themed games, and a special Care Trak demonstration. In 1986 Care Trak created telemetry tracking of high-risk people with Alzheimer disease and special needs kids primarily with Autism. Hundreds of sheriffs, police, fire departments, search and rescue teams and more use Care Trak to quickly locate at risk individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and special needs kids primarily with Autism and Down syndrome. Thousands of lost individuals were rescued by trained emergency responders in an average of less than 30 minutes. Everyone reported missing who was wearing a Care Trak wrist transmitter was located. “This has been an idea we’ve discussed before, and now with the support of Renewal by Andersen and our community partners, we have the needed resources to present the inaugural Egg Hunt for Special Needs Children to the community,” Val Joyner, Public Affairs Officer St. Charles County Police Department said. “Also, we see an increasing need to educate parents, loved ones and care See EGG on page 2
Recipe
Leafy superfood
11
Movie: “Race” FREE Online Subscription at mycnews.com