BY AMANDA PEVEY
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
PHOTOS BY AMANDA PEVEY AND SUBMITTED
Top Photo: Corporal Webb and “Glock” give a K-9 demonstration for the crowd.
It was a beautiful day on Saturday for the annual Cops and Kids event at Village Green Park in Millbrook. The weather was perfect, the crowd was huge and there were miles of smiles and plenty of laughter. And, everything was FREE.
An estimated 2,000 children and family members came out to the event between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Last year the event was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. Everything was FREE which included over 900 Cops and Kids T-shirts while they lasted. The amazing food was catered by Wind Creek Casino from Wetumpka. Plenty of hot dogs, scrumptious macaroni and cheese, chips, and cookies, were offered to all who attended.
Millbrook Police Chief P.K. Johnson has been in law enforcement for over 33 years and said, “There is a reason we do Cops and Kids. I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve been to a restaurant, grocery store, high school football game, and a well-meaning parent will point at a police officer and say, ‘See that officer over there? If you misbehave he is going to get you.’ Well how many of you want to be a Jordan Harris stadium if you’re an Auburn fan, or Bryant Denny Stadium if you’re an Alabama fan and lose your child with over 100,000 people? Do you really want your child to be scared of us, or afraid to approach an officer for help?
“ We don’t want that to happen. Today, we want the children to know, we are the same just like their parents. We just have a different job than their parents. We want the children to have a great time today. I want to say thank you to Wind Creek Casino who provided the food for the event today. Also want to thank our Millbrook Civitan club, our local churches and businesses whose generous donations and partnerships made today’s event possible. I’m extremely proud of our officers and staff, who worked hard today and year-round building positive relationships with our citizens particularly our young people.
“A special thank you to Lieutenant Stephen Youngblood, Corporal Kristen Godwin and Melissa Stiles, who worked very hard over the past year planning and coordinating this event. Everyone involved did an outstanding job. I’m extremely proud of our officers and staff! God Bless America and God Bless Millbrook.”
At 9 am the National Anthem was sung by Mylee Beaufort, a 13-year-old girl in 8th grade at Millbrook Middle School. Beaufort said, “I love music and I have been singing my whole life.”
Her sister, Maleah Beaufort, who is 15 and a 9th grader at Stanhope Elmore High School also loves music and sings along with her sister in their youth group at church.
Two K-9 demonstrations were demonstrated by Corporal Webb and his dog “Glock.”
The Millbrook Fire Department did a demonstration of using the jaws of life to rescue someone if they are trapped in a car due to an accident or other emergency. Police, fire, and sanitation trucks were on site for the kids to explore as well.
Live music was played throughout the event by Kyle Kessler, a disc jockey and owner of Kyle-Co Entertainment. Rock climbing, bouncy houses, go-kart riding and dunking an officer in the dunking booth was a BIG hit.
Lots of games, face painting, popcorn, sno-cones, take and make crafts, were all free for the children to enjoy as well.
Mabry Thorn and Sierra Thorn with their 7-year-old son Copelan said, “This is our 3rd time coming to the Cops and Kids event. We love going to this event, and our son loved seeing all the cop cars and going down the big slide too.”
The Thorns are expecting a little girl next month in November and all three are excited to have a new addition to the family.
John and Katlin Luckie with their one-year-old son Jacob said, “This is our first time at the Cops and Kids event with our son, and we enjoyed all of it and looking forward to coming back next year!”
The Cops and Kids event had an amazing turnout of children with their families. Children had the opportunity to ask any of the first responders questions so they can get to know them and learn more about their jobs.
This event is one of the safest places to be in the city of Millbrook. Also, it was a great opportunity for the citizens to get to know the officers as a human being and to realize they are a real person, too.
If you were not able to make it to this year’s Cops and Kids event, please plan to come to next year’s event in 2022. It continues to grow every year.
See More Photos Below!
