Saturday turned out to be the perfect day for the annual Community Safety Day at Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

Hundreds of children and their families from around the county attended the event which teaches children about being safe in different situations.The event, organized by state Sen. John Yudichak, Carbon Lodge 242 of Free and Accepted Masons, Kid Zone Blue Mountain Health System, the Nolan Ritchie Stay Afloat Foundation and the Carbon County Commissioners, provided free food, games, face painting and smoke houses and educational activities."Safety Day is not just an opportunity for our kids to learn about safety," Yudichak said. "It is an opportunity for all of us to say thank you to those who keep us safe every day.He recognized the volunteer firefighters, as well as emergency personnel who recently battled a large forest fire in East Penn Township.Mindy Graver of Kid Zone and one of the organizers of the event was thrilled by the turnout."It looks like everyone had a good time," she said, thanking all the area organizations who participated to make the event a success. "I hope everyone who came went away learning something to help keep them safe."The day was filled with activities from various organizations, as well as a special presentation honoring Palmerton native Sgt. Major Daniel Dailey.Smokey Bear was among the special guests walking around, speaking with the children and posing for photos.During the fair, the Pennsylvania State Police gave demonstrations on proper seat belt safety.Franklin Township and Albrightsville Volunteer Fire Companies had their new smoke houses where kids could learn about safely exiting a home when it is filled with smoke.Mel Zeigler, Kid Zone member, and Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein demonstrated the importance of wearing a helmet with the very popular "coconut-crusher," which shows what would happen to a child's head if it is not protected by a helmet.Fifteen area fire departments and emergency personnel were on the scene.Penn State Master Gardeners educated children about being aware of pesticide and toxic items that look like food products; while the SHINE Afterschool program showed the importance of sun safety by letting the children make solar bracelets.Other participants included Pathstone Head Start, state Rep. Doyle Heffley, St. Luke's Urgent Care Center and Physical Therapy, the Carbon Emergency Response Team, Carbon County Animal Response Team, Carbon County Children's Team, Pyramid Sports Center, PennStar and MedEvac helicopters, the United States Army and many more.Graver thanked the sponsors who donated money and food, the more than 100 volunteers who came out to help, the senator and his staff and the Masons for working so diligently to make everything come together as planned, and the families for supporting safety day.