[October 21, 2015]      

On Thursday morning Kate Farnam of Lincoln was given a ride to school in a Lincoln Fire Department fire truck. Kate won the honor of riding to her school when she took first place in the First Grade category of the city of Lincoln Fire Safety Poster Contest.

Kate's poster delivered an important message to children everywhere, "Don't be afraid of firemen." The message is very similar to what is taught by the firefighters each year in October during National Fire Prevention Month. When a fire occurs and the firefighters have to enter a burning building they wear equipment that can make them look and sound very strange. The message they work to deliver to children is that inspite of how they look or sound their goal is to help children who are inside a burning building. Therefore, children should not run from or hide from the firefighters.

On Thursday Kate and her older sister Cara were driven to Zion Lutheran School by firefighters Ty Johnson, Brett Tripplett and Chris Perrine. When they arrived several of the students at the school were outside and were quite excited to see the fire truck drive in with lights flashing. Several gathered around Kate and Cara to hear about their experience.

Kate is the daughter of Craig and Denise Farnam of Lincoln. She was among 77 first-graders who entered posters in the contest this year.

Pictures by Nila Smith