First responders have a snow cone connection with students

It’s hard to tell who gets more excited about the snow cones — the Shreve Elementary School students who receive the sweet treats or the first responders who give them out.

For the past four years, the Shreve Police Department and Clinton Township Fire Department have teamed up to make snow cones for the students during their end-of-year field day.

Sgt. Alan Sands of Shreve Police said it’s a tradition that warms the heart. The idea behind it is to build relationships with the younger generation in a less traditional way.

Anticipation of the event starts early.

“The kids were asking about it all morning,” Principal Adam Stein said. “When do we get the snow cones?”

This year clear skies and warm temperatures created a near-perfect day for students, who could choose games and activities planned by physical education teacher Mary Baker and then cool off with a snow cone in the playground pavilion. Did they want pink lemonade, cherry, lemon lime or strawberry? Pink lemonade proved most popular.

Fourth-grader Hayden Hammitt said he waited for his to melt a little so it could turn into a slushy. “It made me happy,” he said.

Stein said police and fire department personnel served snow cones to more than 400 teachers, volunteers and students. “The kids absolutely love it, and we appreciate the partnership with them.”

Sands said the idea for the event came to him one day when he learned that a hardware store had a snow cone machine that was a popular rental. He got approval from the Shreve police chief, mayor and school and gathered volunteers and community help.

“The support was amazing,” Sands said.

Local businesses provided ice, syrups and supplies, and the fire department brought a couple trucks and provided people to help.

“We all had an amazing time watching the kids laugh, smile and enjoy the snow cones on a very warm day,” he said, thinking back to that first event. “Watching them brought a smile to our faces as well, remembering the times we also enjoyed a cool treat on a hot summer’s day. We made sure that we made enough to give each child and staff member a snow cone.”

Of the next time, he said, “We got more donations, more community support and more kids wanting snow cones.”

Eventually, the fire department purchased a snow cone machine to eliminate the rental cost.

They had to postpone the snow cone giveaway during the pandemic year, but it’s been back by popular demand.

Sands said knowing students will attend Shreve Elementary School for only one more year made this year special. “This was one of our last chances at this school.”

Construction of a new One Triway building near Triway High School will house students in preschool through 12th grade. The new building will open for sixth grade through 12th grade in December of this year. Elementary students will move to the new school in 2025.

After the recent field day, Sands said students were generous with their appreciation. “They came to the pavilion area to thank us for their snow cones.”

Sands said being part of their field day has allowed the kids to build a trust with the local emergency personnel — a trust that hopefully never goes away.

“It’s definitely a cool thing,” Stein said. “It’s a way to celebrate the end of another fantastic school year.”