Minnesota Highways, December 1953

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VOL.  3,  NO.  2
1246 University Ave., St. Paul 4, Minn.
DECEMBER,   1953
School Patrol Training Center
To Be Built Near Brainerd
Three Minnesota Highway Department employes were chosen as
officers of a corporation being organized within the American Legion, Department of Minnesota, to
jy^blish a permanent site for the
,'isafety patrol training center.
Lkpt. Vern F. Trapp, Brainerd,
was elected president; George
Kaisersatt, Farmington, vice-president; and Mark Markson, St.
Paul, secretary-treasurer, of the
organization to be known as "Le-
gionville School Safety Patrol
Camp, Inc."
The annual camp which is conducted as a joint operation of the
Highway Department, The American Legion, and the Minnesota
Department of Education is a
training center for young boys and
girls as leaders of their home
school and bus patrols.
These training sessions have
been held for 16 years in various
parts of Minnesota including Camp
Ripley, Civilian Conservation
Corps camps, and in later years on
the grounds of the Crow Wing
County Fair,
^ver    5,000    youngsters,    boys
Harold E. Ohon Elected
Hiwayan Club President
Harold E. Olson, Engineer of
Roadside Development, has been
elected president of the Hiwayan
Club at an election held Dec. 1,
succeeding Mrs. Pauline Suchy,
who has been acting president
since the resignation of Cliff Miller.
Other officers elected were Bud
Berg, Construction, vice-president;
Dorothy Pilcher, Finance, secretary; and Roy Brand, Right of
Way, treasurer.
A total of 493 votes were cast
by Central Office employes who
are members of the Hiwayan
Club in the election which was
handled by a committee having
T. S. Thompson, Construction,
rman.
chairm
and girls up to 15 years of age,
have graduated from this training.
They then return to their home
schools where they take active
parts in the safety programs, passing their knowledge to younger
members of the patrols.
Instruction given at the camp
includes traffic safety, covering bicycle, pedestrian, driving, signs,
laws and regulations.
The new corporation is charged
with the responsibility of selecting
a site, planning and constructing
what buildings are needed, and
then maintaining the operation of
the camp which will be designed
to accommodate 120 students,
plus staff. It is planned to conduct
public subscriptions to raise the
necessary funds, estimated needs
being a minimum of $60,000.
The school safety and bus patrol program is one of the very active parts of the Traffic and Safety
division of the Highway Department. This division assists in the
organization of the program within the schools, furnishes speakers
and visual aid materials for instruction of patrol officers, and in
conjunction with the state Department of Education has developed
a manual of operation for the patrol.
It is customary in most cases to
hold an installation program at
the beginning of the school year
when the patrols are charged with
their responsibilities, usually at an
assembly before the entire student
body of the school. Highway Pa-
frol Officers most often are in
charge of these installations.
Safety minded persons feel that
with the opening of a permanent
training center, designed particularly for this vital safety program,
the entire school safety and bus
patrol operation will be extended
to every school and every school
bus in the state. While present
plans visualize operating the training  center  for eight weeks  each
(Continued  on   page  6)
c&tzfyfra "3UT0 HAVE A
Patrol Recruit School Announced
Capt. Trapp to Head
Preliminary announcement of a
recruit school for Highway Patrol
Officers was made by Earl M.
Larimer, Chief Highway Patrol
Officer, in naming Capt. Vern F.
Trapp, Brainerd, to head the
school.
The recruit school will be held
after the first of the year to train
men interested in becoming members of Minnesota's Highway Patrol. It is part of their preliminary
examination prior to the establishment of a register of eligibles for
certification  for employment.
This school will be preceded
by four weeks of refresher courses
which will be conducted for present officers.  Each  officer  of the
patrol will be in attendance for a
five day course. Dates for these
courses will be announced after
the recruit school is set, to allow a
continuity of the two groups.
The 1954 school will return to
the scene of earlier training
schools as it will be set up at Camp
Ripley, near Little Falls. National
Guard barracks and mess halls
will be used to house, train and
feed the officers in the refresher
courses, as well as the recruits.
Written examinations and oral
interviews conducted by the Civil
Service department have been
completed, with that agency
screening the eligibles who will be
invited to attend the school as the
last part of their qualification.