Scouts Honor: Raising Awareness for Driver Safety in Port Washington

Three girls from Port Washington Girl Scouts Troop 410 are continuing to raise awareness for safe driving in the community.

The scouts, Julia Gurlitz, Gianna Guzzo, and Rebecca Muratore, and their troop leader is Linda Nutter, were recently recognized by the Port Washington Police District for their traffic safety project.

Their poster “One Text One Call Could Wreck It All” will soon be seen in banners across Port Washington, including at the Port Washington Fire Department lot.

“It will be the first thing people see when they drive into town,” said Port Washington Police Commissioner Dave Franklin.

The scouts had sponsored a safe-driving slogan contest in February at Weber Middle School, as part of their Silver Star project, in an effort “to help curb texting and calling while driving,” Franklin said.

The initiative came to life after the police district began a driving-safety awareness campaign nearly a year ago.

“It is commendable at this age to be involved as they are,” Franklin said a ceremony, drawing applause from police and community members.  

Wanting to share the credit, the girls wrote on their blog,  “We'd like to give a huge thank you to community member, Nancy Sinoway for helping us brainstorm about a design for our poster. We'd also like to thank her for hiring graphic designer James Konatich, who brought our slogan to life!”

Resident Steve Kaplan, the traffic safety commissioner of the Village of Port Washington North, is helping to find additional locations to post the banner around Port Washington.