Safety in our playgrounds and parks
Published 7:00 am Sunday, November 17, 2013
Dear Editor,
While traveling through Canada I broke down at Watson Lake. While staying there I met young man who told me about a funeral he was attending in town. A boy was killed on the local soccer field.
The goal cage had tipped over crushing the child’s neck killing the boy instantly.
Today, Nov. 12, I noticed in Oroville City Park a cage rolled out into the center of the field. Did kids roll it out into the field?
While at Winthrop in 2012 attending the Farmers’ Market I noticed two little girls playing under an old school bell. This bell was mounted for years in a little steeple. One girl could stand up inside the bell. I could see her from the waist down. The girl standing outside the bell was spinning it. I saw a large nut and washer fall out of the bell. I ran over and stopped the kids and moved them away. A second nut was holding the bell up by half the threads. The weight of the bell would have crushed the girl inside and the second girl outside could have been crushed also. The bell has been fixed.
Dan Lorz
Oroville
About Gary DeVon
Gary DeVon is the managing editor of the Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune and celebrated his 25th year at the newspaper in August 2012. He graduated from Gonzaga University with a degree in Communications - Print Journalism, with an emphasis in photojournalism. He is a proud alumnus of Oroville High School. His family first settled in Okanogan County in the late 1800s. His parents are Judy DeVon and the late Larry DeVon and he has two younger brothers - Dante and Michael. Many family members still call Oroville home. He has a grown daughter, Segornae Douglas and a young granddaughter, Erin.
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