Marblehead’s Public Safety Day a success

MARBLEHEAD-As far as 2-year-old Marbleheader Megan Eaton was concerned, Saturday?s Public Safety Open House was a success.With a little help from her parents, Matt and Jennifer Eaton, Megan got behind the steering wheel of a Beverly Fire Department van on display at Seaside Park. There must be something empowering about the driver?s seat of a public safety vehicle. Megan was all smiles and when her parents got her out, her first instinct was to climb right back up again.It was the Eatons? first visit to an event like this. “This is like a local Disney World,” Jennifer Eaton said. “This is awesome.”Organized by Marblehead Patrolmen Scott Kaufman and Eric Osattin, the event featured a State Police K-9 demonstration, a Transit Police bomb disposal robot, a Marine Corps chin-up competition, a remote control talking dog named Patches from the Beverly Fire Department and a variety of police and fire equipment.It was Marblehead?s first such event in a decade or so and it ran from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. At noon there were 100 visitors at the park, and at least 50 were gathered around the K-9 demonstration.One of the kid-magnets at the event was Patches. Packed into a red fire truck a little bigger than he was, the 3-foot fire dog rolled around the park and stopped to speak to small groups of children. The children seemed fascinated at the way something that looked like a toy-store window decoration could keep up such a lively conversation.?He?s really interactive,” said Patches? friend, Beverly Fire Lt. Robert Atherton, who constantly kept him in sight and used remote control and wireless communication to make him good company.To Marblehead Police Chief Robert Picariello it was a festive demonstration of the many ways in which public safety keeps the public safe.?It?s a good day,” the chief said. “It?s nice that people see all of these assets that we can use.”