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Show process, write or call me at the Park Record.) Vacation to many families means camping sleeping outdoors out-doors under the stars can be a beautiful experience; gathering gather-ing wood for the morning camp-fire camp-fire can lead to exposure to poison ivy and poison oak and much itching and unpleasantness. unpleasant-ness. Get to know these plants and stay far away! RATTLESNAKES are to be found in every one of our United States but you need not fear them if you use a bit of common sense. Snakes are not aggressive aggres-sive and will not attack unless surprised or cornered. If you come upon a snake, be sensible, don't panic and step aside and remember this if you stay five feet away from a snake you are automatically outside of striking range of ANY SNAKE IN THE COUNTRY! Something else to remember about snakes don't pick up a dead snake you don't know how long it has been dead, and snakes have been known to deliver de-liver a fatal bite by reflex action after they are dead. Picnics are an important part of everybody's vacation but picnics pic-nics can turn into nightmares. Food poisoning can result from poorly refrigerated food; combinations com-binations of foods can create toxic poisoning. NEVER carry a picnic basket in a car trunk on a hot sunny day; NEVER put the remains of a picnic lunch back in the basket "to eat later"; when foods such as chicken or tuna salad or sandwiches are to be prepared, put all the ingredients in-gredients EXCEPT mayonaise together and carry the mayonaise mayon-aise separately to be added immediately im-mediately prior to eating. Fatal botulism poisoning results when meats or fish combined with mayonaise are allowed to become be-come warm. Safety experts agree that there is nothing better than peanut butter sandwiches! sand-wiches! ANOTHER SAFEGUARD to establish on a family vacation is what to do if one member of the party becomes separated from the others. Circumstances would alter cases, but, as is often said, prevention is better than cure, so have a preconceived precon-ceived plan beforehand. It is my hope that these reminders re-minders may help someone this summer. Readers may rightly wonder why safety topics appear from time to time in this column and what my authority is. For more than 15 years I was active in volunteer safety work on a local and state level in Michigan. I studied safety laws, helped write safety legislation; I conducted safety workshops and made hundreds of appearances at clubs and organizations all over the state of Michigan talking talk-ing about many phases of safety home, fire, food, bicycle, automobile, motor bike and snowmobile, water safety, safety for children andthe elderly. It was my pleasure to attend the National Safety Congress in Chicago twice and was privileged priv-ileged to have been selected as Michigan's Miss Safety of 1969. To me safety still is one of the most vital problems in our country today. Bits & Pieces By Eleanor Bennett SCHOOL'S OUT! Time for vacation! Around the house or away there are dangers that present themselves and now is the time to be reminded that carelessness can oft times cause disaster and ruination of a good time! Massacre on the highway can be curtailed if the driver is alert to start out and keeps rested by stopping at freauent intervals; also when children are passengers in a car they should be kept occupied so that the driver is not distracted. All occupants should of course wear seat belts fastened snugly. (Experts agree that a loose fitting seat belt is worse than no seat belt at all.) It is wise to travel in daylight hours and be aware in advance of road conditions whenever possible. If swimming and boating and other water activities are part of a vacation, local conditions should be investigated. A lake with a treacherous bottom is a -. distinct hazard as are strong currents in a river. In a boat the law says that each occupant MUST wear a certified life preserver don't count on an old one to do the job. AND DON'T let little children play in water even shallow water without adult supervision. super-vision. As early in life as possible pos-sible children should be taught to swim. The ability to swim has saved many lives. And now there is something called "drown proofing" that is knowledge easily acquired byyoungand old, swimmers and non-swimmers, that enables a person to keep afloat for a good 12 hours or more. (NOTE: If any reader would like further information in-formation on this sanctioned |