Crossing guards recognized in North Bay on appreciation day
Wednesday marks Crossing Guard Appreciation Day, a day to thank crossing guards who make sure children cross the street safely.
Whether it's -30 or pouring rain outside, crossing guard Cory Potter is always at his intersection of Norman Avenue and Connaught Avenue.
"It's a community service every day and seeing all those smiling faces of the kids really makes it worth getting up early," said Potter said, who started the job a few months ago.
When he's patrolling his intersection located between two schools, he waves at drivers reminding them to slow down in the school zone. Unfortunately, some inattentive drivers frustrate him.
"But generally, the people are pretty good at understanding that when I hold that stop sign up, you better stop," Potter said.
The City of North Bay, North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit and the Nipissing-Parry Sound Student Transportation Service paid homage at city hall Wednesday morning to the 17 crossing guards who currently work busy intersections.
"Not every student takes transportation," said student transportation service executive director Chuck Seguin.
“A lot of them walk and there are spots where they absolutely need that trusted assistance.”
The organizations presented them with certificates and larger, light-up stop signs.
"This is actually great especially on a foggy day or a day with crazy weather," said crossing guard Elizabeth Tremblay, showing off the new handheld sign.
"It can get bad where I am."
Anyone interested in being a crossing guard can contact the municipality they live in.
"In any community where parents are feeling apprehensive about their children crossing streets safely, it's worth a call to the municipality to have the area reviewed," said Seguin.
"There are standards the municipality will follow."
Potter is grateful for the recognition and said he has the best job in the world.
"We care about the kids, No. 1," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.