Annual ECFE 'Wheels' event offers a variety of vehicles to explore

Charley Gilbert, The Bemidji Pioneer, Minn.
·2 min read

May 16—BEMIDJI — Children had the chance to explore vehicles of all kinds on Tuesday during Bemidji Early Childhood Family Education's annual "Wheels" event.

As the youngsters climbed in and out of all the many exciting vehicles on display, Bemidji firefighters, EMTs, police officers and more were eager to greet families and take pictures with kids.

Four-year-old Brooklyn Evans especially enjoyed pretending to drive a lawn mower.

"I also got into that behind you," she exclaimed while pointing at a Bemidji school bus. "I couldn't drive it because my mom said 'no,'" she added with a sigh.

The event has been a mainstay for Bemidji families for decades, according to organizer and Bemidji preschool teacher Mackinzie Greenwaldt.

"Our program likes to host events for our families, and this is our big spring event," she said. "The F in ECFE stands for family and we take a lot of pride in that. One thing that is special about our program is our dedication to family involvement. We put on events for families to come and enjoy and make memories."

Greenwaldt has been organizing Wheels for the past several years and was excited to have a few new vehicles added this year, including machines from Bemidji Sports Centre, MJ's All Seasons and Waste Management.

"We have kids that are here from the past and then even from the future," she said. "We've got some little ones here that we know will come through our preschool program one day."

She added that students are always eager to talk about their favorite things from the event the following day at school.

"As a teacher, it's really fun because I obviously talk about Wheels in my classroom," Greenwaldt said. "I've already seen about 10 kids come running to get a hug," she said.

Greenwalt added how that is one of the teacher's favorite parts of having community events, seeing all their former and future students.

"It's fun to see the kids from years past," she said. "I have former students that are now here with siblings or they just come back because it is so much fun."