Open house offers inside look
MHPS event offers fun for all ages and hands out scholarships to local students
Hatters were given a first-hand look inside the Medicine Hat Police Service Saturday during the annual open house event.
The event ran from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., showcasing a number of units within the MHPS to the public, while also giving kids a place to play and eat for the afternoon.
“We’ve been doing these for four or five years, ever since the second half of the building opened,” said police chief Andy McGrogan. “We wanted to open up the doors to the community so they could come out and take a look at the police station.
“Normally people don’t get a chance to look around because it’s always so busy, so this is something we can do every year to let the citizens look around the building they pay for.”
With rain hitting the city Saturday morning, it was looking like the day of outdoor activities may have been canceled, but Mother Nature let up just in time for the open house.
“Most of this is outside and we always do a barbecue so the rain could have spoiled a lot of fun — especially for the kids that come out with their families,” said McGrogan. “We’re lucky that it stopped right around 11 a.m. so we could have our day of activities.
“In previous years we’ve had a few hundred people come out, but we’ll see how the weather impacts that this year.”
Saturday’s open house is always paired with the handing out of scholarships to young students, says McGrogan, who added he was happy to see scholarship portion of the event turn 10 this year.
“We’ve done the Chief Earl Leadership Legacy Fund presentations for the past ten years, and we’ve been building on the legacy fund every year,” he said. “When we started doing the open houses we combined the two events and it’s been great.
“It’s always a fun time to honour the students who have shown leadership in their schools.”