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42nd Annual CFD Babysitters Banquet |
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42nd Annual CFD Babysitters Banquet |
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The Caledonia Fire Department recently wrapped up annual babysitters course. A local tradition for 42 years. This year's class of seven students completed six-weeks of instruction covering fire safety, personal safety and emergency response, childcare tips and basic first aid. The culminating activity of the six-week class involved each student writing an essay telling what they learned from the course and how they would apply that knowledge while caring for children. The fire department and ladies auxiliary hosted the students at a dinner banquet held March 28, and attended by several special guests, including Livingston County Court Judge, the Honorable Dennis Cohen and Middle School Principal Robert Molisani. Awards were presented for the top essays and escape route posters and each student received a certificate commemorating the completion of the course. The fire department started the babysitters course in 1965 after two children died in a house fire in the Town of Wheatland. Then fire chief, the late Frank "Duke" Tiberio, was so moved by the tragedy that he decided to start the course to teach children what to do in the event of a fire emergency, recalled course chairman Larry Heins. The 1965 class instructors included Tiberio, Police Chief Bernard Hayward, Fire Instructor Johnson Doley, First Aid Instructors Bob Bostwick and Curt Minister and Course Chairman Robert Robinson. Several other volunteers have stepped forward over the years to continue the course instruction. Ivan Carson, an active fire and ambulance volunteer, served as chair until 1998 when Heins and Lysko took over as chair and co-chair. Many police and fire agencies throughout Livingston County call the CFD Babysitters Course, the most comprehensive childcare training course in the county. The CFD Babysitters Course has trained an estimated 800 or more babysitters from the Cal-Mum community over the past four decades. "One of the best programs I've ever seen in the nation," said banquet attendee John York, sheriff of Livingston County. "Every time I go there, I'm absolutely in awe at the amount of information that is provided and the commitment of the instructors." The course has earned a reputation with fire companies well beyond the boundaries of Livingston County, as well. Heins said two fire companies from the Long Island area read about the babysitters course in a firefighter's newsletter and inquired about the content and how they could begin a similar training course. "What we teach is how to handle yourself, to think, to remain calm and that your first priority is to the children you are caring for," Heins explained. "With the help of the Caledonia Police Department, the Caledonia Ambulance, the Livingston County Sheriffs Department, the Office of Emergency Management, the Caledonia Fire District, the Ladies Auxiliary and countless others, the support they all give is what keeps the course going strong." Participants
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