Mark Your Calendars, Camp Bandage Returns to Grand Lake, June 8
Free and open to the public, the third annual safety camp and kids’ fun fair teaches children of all ages how to be safe in their daily lives.
Everyone’s favorite safety camp and kids’ fair is back. The third annual Camp Bandage - Grand Lake is set for Saturday, June 8.
A free outdoor event that provides safety, health and first aid training for children of all ages, Camp Bandage - Grand Lake will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Grand Lake RV Resort on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokee’s Duck Creek.
Open to the public, Camp Bandage - Grand Lake is a family-friendly day that teaches children of all ages to put safety first and how to be ready in the case of an emergency.
A number of groups and organizations will be on hand during the event to educate and demonstrate a wide variety of safety topics in a fun and diverse environment.
During Camp Bandage, children will learn about safe outdoor recreation, water safety, health, first aid, weather, fire safety, injury and substance abuse prevention and more. They will also have the opportunity to meet and interact with first responders from the Grand Lake area, including fire, police and EMTs, as well as explore helicopters, fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, patrol boats, cranes and a fire boat.
In addition to the many safety classes, demonstrations and hands-on activities, the fun will also include karaoke, dancing and games.
Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, everything is free at Camp Bandage - Grand Lake, including admission, prizes, hot dogs and drinks. Beginning at 10 a.m., T-shirts will be given away to the first 500 children who arrive at Camp Bandage.
The Grand Lake safety camp and kids’ fun fair is an off-shoot of Camp Bandage - Broken Arrow, which was started in 1983 by Dr. A.L. Gerner and his wife, Shirley. An annual event for more than 30 years, Camp Bandage was designed to educate the community of how common accidents and injuries could be prevented.
Over the years, the Broken Arrow event has grown and expanded its focus to include all aspects of safety and disaster preparedness. Camp Bandage - Grand Lake is an extension of that growth.
“Vince Scoufos wanted to do a safety event on Grand Lake because so many youngsters were driving golf carts, etc.,” said Kurt Klein, director of Camp Bandage - Broken Arrow. “He was familiar with our event and approached me about doing something similar. My goal would be to have three or four events around the state, so I was happy to welcome them under our Camp Bandage umbrella.”
According to Klein, the event Vince and Ed Ferguson with GRDA developed is like the original, just in a different location. He also notes that Camp Bandage - Grand Lake has grown a lot faster than he thought it would. One reason, Klein said, is that each year more and more exhibitors from Broken Arrow are choosing to also attend the Grand Lake event.
This year, Camp Bandage - Grand Lake is organized by Grand Nation, a nonprofit grassroots coalition that has been serving the Grand Lake area since 2012.
“A community outreach project of this magnitude fits right in with our existing substance abuse prevention program, GaDuGi,” said Jennifer Hinson, Grand Nation executive director.
“For instance, we’re trying to promote Responsible Recreation on the lake. Camp Bandage - Grand Lake teaches kids about being safe on the water and being safe at home. It’s an obvious platform where we could impact 500-plus kids in one day. That was an opportunity we didn’t want to pass up.”
Camp Bandage - Grand Lake will once again be hosted by Grand Lake RV Resort at 31527 South 4510 Road, Afton, Okla., on Duck Creek.
“Camp Bandage is an awesome safety program for kids with lots of activities for learning,” said Dianna McIntyre, owner and operator of Grand Lake RV Resort. “We thoroughly enjoy it and think it’s a wonderful experience.”
If you would like to attend Camp Bandage, be a vendor or volunteer, visit CampBandage.org/GrandLake or the Grand Lake Camp Bandage Facebook page for more information.
ABOUT CAMP BANDAGE
Camp Bandage was started in Broken Arrow by Dr. A.L. Gerner and his wife, Shirley, in 1983, as a one-day event designed to educate the community on how common accidents and injuries can be prevented. For more than 30 years, businesses and organizations across the community have come together each year to teach children everything from injury prevention, first aid and CPR to bike, water, fire and home safety. Each year, the Broken Arrow Police and Fire departments are on hand to simulate responding to a car accident in order to educate the community on how emergency responders work together.
ABOUT GRAND NATION
Grand Nation is a nonprofit grassroots coalition that has been serving the Grand Lake area since 2012. An umbrella organization for a number of different programs, Grand Nation joins families seeking a better life with the resources and community organizations that can help them achieve their goal. Located at 123 S. Wilson, in Vinita, Grand Nation serves the communities of Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, including Vinita, Grove, Jay, Afton, Ketchum, Langley, Miami, Bluejacket and Spavinaw. The phone number is (918) 276-2192.
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