Pretty cool ride!

Over the years, Steve Geerts figures more than 100 New Hampton schoolchildren have experienced a “special ride” to school.And the longtime New Hampton fire chief figures all those kids have deserved all those rides because they’ve helped educate their peers, teachers and parents about the importance of fire safety.“These kids take it pretty seriously,” Geerts said of the annual fire poster contest his department sponsors in conjunction with National Fire Prevention Week. “They have some pretty cool ways of getting fire safety tips across.”The winners of the annual contest each year are treated to a ride to school in a fire truck, and on Monday, Geerts made his first delivery — New Hampton Elementary School third-grader Easton Monteith.“We had to do something on ‘Don’t Wait - Check the Date’ and it was about smoke alarms,” Monteith said. “It was pretty fun, and getting to ride in a fire truck, that’s pretty cool, too.”Geerts said several firefighters judge the contest each year and a winner is selected in four divisions — kindergarten, first grade, second grade and third grade.Firefighters also volunteer to pick up the student, who sometimes lets his or her siblings ride along, and take them to school.And the contest and ride-to-school program have been a tradition at the New Hampton Fire Department for more than 20 years.“Some of our first winners have kids now,” Geerts said, “and it’s fun to be a part of it. Some kids don’t say ‘boo’ and some kids talk all the way to school. You definitely learn that no two are alike.”