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Demonstrations, face painting, emergency vehicles and personnel, drawings, a bounce house and more - yep, it’s that time of year again for Family Safety Day.
Rain or shine - hopefully, shine - the free event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 19 at Central Park, 225 E. Fort Wayne St., Warsaw, the same time and location as last year. This is the 22nd year for Family Safety Day.
Heather Vogts, Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory chief’s assistant, said, “Last year, we switched to the morning hours versus the afternoon, and we think, despite the rain that happened towards the end last year, that it worked a lot better for families.”
For last year’s Family Safety Day, she said they ordered 500 water bottles that the kids could decorate with stickers, and all 500 were gone by the event’s end. Based on that, she estimated that they had 1,000 to 1,500 attend Family Safety Day in 2025 despite the rain.
New this year, Vogts said, “We’re kind of trying out just a little bit a different layout. This year, we have really, really honed in on community safety businesses to really kind of focus in on the name Family Safety Day. So, there will be some different vendors there, compared to last year. We’re kind of moving some vendors around. We have Tom’s Coffee Cart that will be there again this year, and then Fellowship Missions’ food truck will be there, too, to kind of do a breakfast/brunch kind of thing that people can purchase while at the event.”
She continued, “Other than that, we have some amazing vendors returning.” Both Parkview and Lutheran helicopters will land at the event, with one there from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and the other one there from 10:30 a.m. to noon, pending no emergencies or bad weather.
Inside the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion will be about 15 vendors, including the possibility of one vendor offering free flu shots to children, which would be a new addition.
There’s also the returning favorite vendors, including the Kosciusko REMC High-Voltage Trailer, the gummy worm surgery demonstration and face painters, she said.
“This year, we’re really trying to highlight our fire side. So our fire tent, where all of our equipment is, is going to be better than it has been in the previous years. Everything will be labeled what it is, and we’ll have designated staff in there to kind of help answer any questions people have about equipment or how it works or how we use it. Really give the community kind of a hands-on experience with fire equipment,” Vogts said.
The bounce house is always a favorite for kids.
It’s up to the vendors if they choose to give any freebies at their tables and tents.
“I know we have nearly 200 goodie bags to pass out to people that have a couple coupons in it, and some fire-related items, so people can use those bags as they visit the other vendors and businesses there,” she said, and those are first-come, first-serve.
Crouse Body Shop will again be providing the vehicles for the two WWFT extrication demonstrations, one early on during Family Safety Day and one a little later.
“It can be a 100% free event for families to attend to get resources, enjoy the park, get to know first responders and local community members, and just enjoy the outdoors, and go home just in time for lunch and nap time for the kids,” Vogts said. “That’s the main purpose of Family Safety Day, is to put the resources in one place that is accessible to the community without there being a fee to access them, or any hurdles. It removes those hurdles, it removes any barriers to get that help or get that contact information. It’s a direct line. So, hopefully, that helps people who are in need of those services or didn’t know the city offers those services and now they can use them.”
Sponsors help make Family Safety Day possible. The Chief Level Sponsors this year include the Dr. Dane and Mary Louise Miller Foundation, Lutheran Health Network and Kosciusko REMC. Captain Level Sponsors are Crouse Body Shop Inc., Family Express Corp., Hoosier Fire Equipment Inc. and American Red Cross.
“We couldn’t do the event without the sponsors. The event is 100% funded by donations from local community sponsors. It is not tax-funded. It does not come from the fire department budget, so if we do not have sponsors, we don’t have the funds to have this amazing community event, so they are vital to its success,” Vogts stated.
She also gave a shoutout to the Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department for allowing them to use the space for Family Safety Day.
“As we found out, it started just in one of the station parking lots and station bays, and it’s drastically grown and the Parks Department allows us to use their park and facilities for the event, and we are very appreciative of it,” Vogts said. “I want to thank, also, the fire territory, the firefighters and their families that help with the event, whether it’s the planning stages, whether it’s setting up, whether it’s helping with the event or clean-up, we couldn’t have this event or have it be successful without their participation, so I personally am very grateful for their help in any way that they have given toward this event.”
