Q: My son is involved in school patrol at his school and I would like to know more about Legionville School Patrol Camp.
A: There is a lot of information about Legionville School Patrol Training Camp. The Camp is where school patrol students are taught the fundamentals of school patrol, school bus safety, bicycle, and pedestrian safety. It is located just north of Brainerd and is operated by the American Legion, using State Patrol Troopers as instructors. I will be one of the instructors again this year.
Students who will be 10 years old before Sept. 1 and not older than 13 years will be accepted. Exceptions to this restriction can be made but must be cleared in advance through the American Legion. Legionville is currently taking applications.
Legionville will be celebrating 78 years of instruction. It actually started 80 years ago in 1936, but because of World War II, class was canceled in 1942 and 1943. The “old familiar barn” is gone and a new one has been built.
School Patrol training itself was started (informally) back in 1920, when Sister Carmella asked the older boys to help the younger children cross the streets from school in St. Paul.
Earle Brown (former Minnesota governor and former Minnesota Highway Patrol chief), formalized the program and got the Highway Patrol (now called Minnesota State Patrol since about 1974) involved with the instruction at the Earle Brown Farm in the Twin Cities. Based on records from American Legion personnel, the training locations also included the Crow Wing County Fairgrounds, Camp Ripley and the present Legionville location north of Brainerd, (southwest of Merrifield).
Besides school patrol and school bus patrol training by troopers, other instructors help complete the week with swimming, canoeing, first aid training and many other activities and games. The camp is a very active place. Parents can pay for their kids to go, even though there are also some limited numbers of scholarships available each year through the local schools, State Patrol Troopers Association, local American Legion posts and many other venues. The registration fee is $275 per student.
This year weekly sessions run from the middle of June until the middle of August. For registration and camp information go to http://www.legionville.org/
A portion of state statutes were used with permission from the Office of the Revisor of Statutes.
If you have any questions concerning traffic-related laws or issues in Minnesota, send your questions to Sgt. Troy Christianson, Minnesota State Patrol, at 2900 48th Street NW, Rochester, Minnesota 55901-5848, or reach him at Troy.Christianson@state.mn.us