For the City Times

The Bus. 51 boat landing to McDill Pond is now home to a life jacket loaner station.

Life Jacket Loaner Board station at McDill Pond Boat Landing. (Contributed)

The board was built via a cooperative program between the Department of Natural Resources, Stevens Point Child Safety Center/Safe Kids Portage County and the Boy Scouts Order of the Arrow-Tom Kita Chara Lodge 96.

The life jacket station provides an opportunity for boaters who find they don’t have enough life jackets to borrow some of the correct size, then return them to the station when they are done for the day.

The Wis. DNR provided the construction materials, signage and life jackets, while the Tom Kita Chara Lodge members built the station. The Child Safety Center will maintain the station throughout the summer.

Safe Kids Portage County recommended in a press statement that children always wear a life jacket approved by the U.S. Coast Guard while on boats or participating in water sports.

“Make sure the life jacket fits snugly,” the statement reads in part. “Have kids make a ‘touchdown’ signal by raising both arms straight up; if the life jacket hits a child’s chin or ears, it may be too big or the straps may be too loose.”

For more information, call Joanne Peotter at Stevens Point Child Safety Center at (715)341-7328.