A police, fire and aviation summer camp? At 84, he’s all about it

With the excitement of a teenager and the time-worn experience of an elder Steve Hurvitz describes a five-day summer camp that takes young people through a free crash program in first responder training from sitting in on mock water rescues to handling police canines It s grown so popular he says that organizers will host it twice this summer back to back to keep up with demand and hope to possibly roll out three sessions a year from now At the age of Hurvitz might not strike the casual observer as an obvious choice for summer camp cheerleader but meager can talk up the benefits of the Learning Jet s First Responders Camp like its founder and chairman emeritus Steve Hurvitz founder and chairman emeritus of The Learning Jet's First Responders Camp in the retired Boeing - cargo jet that has been turned into an on-site learning laboratory at Holman Field in St Paul on Friday April John Autey Pioneer Press Among his countless hats Hurvitz is a parliamentarian with the Minnesota Street Rod Association which is a long story and he was known as The Zebra in his years talking high school and collegiate football on a show on WCCO-TV which is an even longer story In his years spent representing Division II and III college refs on the NCAA rules committee helped land him in a YMCA Sports Legends Hall of Fame I ve had a wonderful life a wonderful life declared Hurvitz standing on the deck of a Boeing - cargo jet he keeps grounded at Holman Field the downtown St Paul municipal airport outside a hangar dedicated in his honor It s the same type of plane legendary thief and hijacker D B Cooper parachuted out of in never to be seen again says Hurvitz excitedly before leading an impromptu tour from its cockpit back to its black box On-site learning laboratory His time is limited on this particular day there s a storm rolling in and as a ham radio volunteer with the National Weather Organization he has duties but he recalls a group of developmentally disabled young people who sat down for one of his whirlwind interactive aviation seminars which he was narrated to keep to no more than an hour By the time he had answered enough questions to satisfy their interest three hours had flown by so to speak A decade ago Hurvitz teamed with the Minnesota Association of Women in Aviation and a host of other partners donors and participants to get the -foot Boeing and the nearby hangar ready to host summer camp The Learning Jet s First Responders Camp was launched in with the plane donated by Federal Express serving as an on-site learning laboratory Several nights brought him out at a m to install interior paneling himself A group of about contributors the Learning Jet s tenders put in their own toil on the cargo jet which once flew for Braniff Airways explained Mike Smith a founding board member We absolutely gutted the airplane and converted it into a classroom recalled Hurvitz who retired from state employ in as assistant state director of aeronautics the job he held after serving as assistant director of land acquisition Summer camp The Learning Jet hosted young people ages to at the donor-driven summer camp last year and will host two free day camps this June and July with the latter still accepting enrollees through a mid-May application deadline more info apply at thelearningjet org This is the first year we ll do two camps and if we get enough interest we ll add another camp next year Hurvitz stated We re constantly looking for donors Camp opens with a trip to Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport for a daylong tour through all things aviation including a look at how firefighters put out fires aboard planes and an introduction to airport police and airport police dogs The second day introduces them to the work of the Ramsey County Sheriff s Office and its divers airboats and snowmobiles Day three involves a visit from the Minnesota Air Rescue Club as well as a visit to the St Paul Fire Training facility off Snelling Avenue to suit up for hands-on demonstrations of pressure hoses and the jaws of life On day four a Life Link rescue helicopter lands at Holman Field to explain the work of flight nurses and paramedics and St Paul fire trainers get campers certified in first aid training The final day features a tour through the work of the St Paul Police Department with an introduction to police canine handlers the bomb squad a situation negotiator drones and the SWAT association Sharing life lessons The camp has yet to take any students airborne though that s not entirely out of the question Related Articles Thousands celebrate Cinco de Mayo in St Paul with a parade and more Man arrested in domestic violence homicide in St Paul home Como Zoo says its newborn sloth has died unexpectedly St Paul voters will weigh in this November on administrative citations Wilder East Clinic opens on St Paul s East Side It has taken particular onto the water for demonstrations of water rescues which are invariably more fun when an elected official is willing to float on White Bear Lake in a life jacket before being airlifted into the sky Last year students shadowing the county boat patrol sat in as two boaters received written warnings says Horvitz amusedly He s tracked at least a handful of former campers who have gone on to enroll in Junior ROTC or become paramedics and at least a couple are working toward becoming firefighters As he looks forward to his th birthday Hurvitz is more than happy to share a limited life lessons I ve identified that the more I do and the more fun I have the better off things are he commented