Fremont County Commissioner Ed Norden shows his appreciation to Fremont County Head Start Director Jo Beth Palmer on April 19th at Head Start Safety Town. Palmer said with Norden leaving office at the end of this year the staff wanted to note his support of Head Start over the years as a board member of the Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments.
Fremont County Head Start staff members honored two individuals at this year’s annual Head Start Safety Town. The Head Start center in Brookside hosted their 41st annual Safety Town USA which is designed to deliver important safety messages to young children in a fun and entertaining way. Head Start administrators dedicated the 2016 Safety Town to Gregg Goodland, Fire Prevention Technician with the US Forest Service Office in Cañon City. Goodland has come to be affectionately known by all the kids at Safety Town as “Ranger Gregg”. Goodland shared a story of having contacted a family one day on a forest service road and the youngster riding in the truck instantly recognized him as Ranger Gregg from Safety Town. Goodland said that contact reinforced for him the value and importance of the Safety Town messages to children.
Head Start staff also honored Fremont County Commission Chairman Ed Norden for his long term support of the Head Start program. Head Start Director Jo Beth Palmer said that over his more than five years of service on the Board of Directors of the Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments Norden has continually supported Head Start staff, administrators, and parents. Norden said he’s attended lots of Safety Town events over the years but his service on the COG Board has allowed him to see firsthand the real value of the services Head Start provides to families in Fremont County throughout the entire school year. Norden added that he has been particularly impressed with the dedication of the Head Start staff and parents.