Lexington library offers safety workshop and bike rodeo
Lexington Public Library will host its annual Summer Safety Workshop and Bike Rodeo on Wednesday, May 27, at 10:30 a.m. at 907 N. Washington St.
With summer upon us, Lexington Public Library is hosting its yearly Summer Safety Workshop and Bike Rodeo.
Their goal is to give families the tools they need to stay safe this summer by providing a circuit of community partners at the library on Wednesday, May 27, at 10:30 a.m., along with an obstacle course for bikes.
The Summer Safety Workshop will kick off in the library, where community partners will gather to share safety tips.
Library Director Jennifer Norton said Lexington Regional Health representatives will be there to talk about the importance of wearing helmets while biking and the possible injuries you can get from not wearing them.
The hospital has donated helmets of all sizes and will hand them out for free at its booth.
Dawson Public Power will also be present. Norton said that in the past, DPP has talked about electrical safety, how to safely remove stuck kites from trees and powerlines, and wind energy. It also has offered hands-on activities for kids to explore the concepts.
YMCA representatives will lead an activity meant to encourage exercise. Depending on the activity they choose, they may be outside with the Bike Rodeo.
“Most of the community partners will be inside and we’ll rotate the groups to the different activities,” Norton said. “The bike rodeo, or obstacle course, will be outside.”
The Lexington Police Department and the Dawson County Sheriff's Office were both invited to take part.
According to Norton, the police primarily station themselves at the Bike Rodeo, which follows the Summer Safety Workshop.
Their efforts are two-part. First, they inform families about traffic laws, bike signaling and bike safety on the road.
Second, they help run the Bike Rodeo, an obstacle course that families can ride through after getting a free helmet from Lexington Regional Hospital.
Norton stressed that the library would prefer that all participants of the Bike Rodeo wear helmets.
“The library is a community space, and knowing that kids are out of school, we want them to be safe during the summer,” Norton said. “They can come to the library every day, I don’t care, but they don’t want to spend all day there. We know they’re going to be doing things outside, and we want them to be safe and have fun.”
Norton is encouraging guests to bring their own bikes to the Summer Safety Workshop and Bike Rodeo.
She hopes to give away at least four bikes during the event via a drawing.
The bikes will be for different ages and genders and were donated by Dawson County Auto and Platte Valley Auto Mart, which Norton said are longtime supporters of the event.
A food truck has been invited as well, so Norton hopes they come. Guests can sit outside while eating.
The library recently purchased new picnic tables with a grant, and the City of Lexington offered to help assemble them.
Norton said she’s hoping the picnic tables will be assembled and returned to the library before the event so they can be used.
In addition, the library has recently undergone new landscaping and is getting ready to kick off its summer reading program.
This year’s program is “Unearth a Story” and is themed around dinosaurs, fossils and archeology. Norton said the Summer Safety Workshop and Bike Rodeo is “kind of a soft opening” for the program.
For more information about the Lexington Public Library summer reading program and to keep up with the special events scheduled throughout it, you can visit the library’s website or Facebook page.
