One of the best Spokane events for families happened last Friday. Healthy Kids Day is a YMCA national initiative to improve the health of children. The initiative is celebrated locally at the Spokane Valley YMCA the first Friday of each June. We attended in 2023 and 2024 but missed out last year. However, the Resers returned for the 2026 event this past Friday.

Beau, Sloan, and I pose in a photo booth at the 2026 Spokane YMCA Healthy Kids Day.

As per usual, Sloan and Beau received free t-shirts, ate free tacos, participated in various activities, and visited 30+ booths staffed by local organizations and community groups. It was great fun!

Sloan holds her balloon animal she received at Healthy Kids Day this past Friday.

Perhaps one of the best booths this year belonged to the Sheriff Community Oriented Policing Effort (S.C.O.P.E.). This year, the group gave out a free bicycle helmet to every kid who wanted one. Even better, the volunteers took time to measure the head of each kid and then presented them with a helmet that actually fit and would provide optimal protection.

Beau being fitted for a helmet by a volunteer from the Sheriff Community Oriented Policing Effort (S.C.O.P.E.) during the 2026 Spokane YMCA Healthy Kids Day.

This was a wonderful freebie for Beau. Our son loves his bike! After school and during the weekend you will find him ferociously pedaling as he cruises the neighborhood on his two wheels. If you do happen to catch him in action, you will also notice that he is wearing a helmet…and the one he now currently dons is the helmet he received from S.C.O.P.E.

As a kid, I rode my bike with the same passion that Beau does. And, just like my son, I always wore my helmet. Not necessarily by choice, though. While many of my friends went helmet-less, my siblings and I were required to either “wear the helmet or don’t ride the bike.”

Seems like sound parenting, right?

Well, it was, except one thing bothered me. Our helmets were these large, round clunky things that looked more like archaic space helmets than the models that were popular at the time. We hated them but to encourage us to wear them, my dad let us spray paint them. Mine was fluorescent orange with streaks of splattered blue paint. It looked awful. But if wanted to ride my bike, I had to wear it…and I did.

Beau rides his bike while wearing the helmet he received from S.C.O.P.E. at Healthy Kids Day.

I am glad that S.C.O.P.E. gave my son a modern and sleek helmet that also provides full protection. I am also now thankful that my parents made me wear a bicycle helmet when I was a kid…even if I looked like a dork. Don’t Blink.