A unique location referring to mining traditions, plenty of additional attractions for the youngest, sunny aura and great family atmosphere accompanied the 2nd edition of the Family Picnic of RIG Member Companies, which took place on June 9 in Park 12C, belonging to the Sztolnia Królowa Luiza complex in Zabrze.
The open-air event, in a recreational and educational space above a former training mine, brought together nearly 200 participants – Member Companies, Partners and Sponsors with their families.
– Today we meet without ties, suits and suits, and without the unnecessary speeches with which we bore you at every meeting. Our work from Monday to Friday often involves tough decisions, difficult situations that we have to deal with. But the weekend is when we realize that it was worth it. That’s why I keep my fingers crossed that your families and our RIG family work together, grow and respect each other. Let’s spend a nice time with friends and supporters of the Chamber – said Tomasz Zjawiony, President of RIG in Katowice.
– We are glad you are with us, as well as the perfect weather is with us. We would like to thank our co-host, the Coal Mining Museum, and we are happy to host the event in Park 12c managed by the Museum. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for our picnic partners – stressed Aleksandra Wanat, Vice President of the Chamber during the opening of the event.
For the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, cooperation with local governments is of exceptional importance. Therefore, the picnic could not miss representatives of the Zabrze authorities, who emphasized the role of the business sector for the development of the city.
– I very much enjoy the event of companies associated with the Chamber. I would like to confirm that entrepreneurs and investors are extremely important for Zabrze. It is not by chance that we are located in this place. Around industrial tourism, we want to create a base that allows tourists to stay with us for longer than just a visit to the Guido Mine or the Luiza Adit. I would like micro and small local entrepreneurs to benefit from tourism. I hope that the growing hotel base and increasingly interesting cultural offer will make this happen – said Zabrze Mayor Agnieszka Rupniewska.
– We are glad that you have chosen Zabrze for a family picnic. We are trying to make spaces such as Park 12c as commercially used as often as possible. We will soon be providing new investment areas, we invite you to Zabrze with any ideas – added Łukasz Urbańczyk, City Secretary.
Zabrze is the capital of post-industrial tourism not only in the region, but also in Poland. It draws on the heritage of heavy industry to give new functions to post-industrial spaces. Such an example is Park12C, where children and adults can learn about the region’s mining tradition. Waiting for them, among other things, is the Bajtel Group (a historic mini-mine) and a tour of the Underground Kingdom of Machines.
–The biggest attraction is the opportunity to work as if you were in a real mine. Here you can see what the process of mining coal looks like. True, instead of “black gold” the children extract stones, and instead of electric motors they use their own legs, just like on a bicycle, to propel all the equipment, but you can get a little sweaty and get a taste of the miner’s work – explains Michał Hanus, a guide at the Luiza Mine.
Another highlight was the presence of children entertainers from Bajka Pana Kleksa (Mr. Kleks Fairy Tale), who took the picnic participants to a magical-scientific world, and everyone left with the obligatory freckles. The lecture – by Professor Ambroży Kleks himself in the flesh – was very popular.
Safety and life safety education were provided by other partners of the event.
The team of NZOZ SAFE MED, a RIG Member Company, conducted first aid training, and presented the inside of an ambulance.
– We have prepared a simulation of securing a deep, lacerated wound. We show the technique of how to secure the wound to get to the hospital safely. In addition, we have phantoms imitating an adult, a teenager and an infant. We also have an AED defibrillator and can show how to properly deal with a person who loses consciousness and is not breathing – enumerates Katarzyna Kaczmarczyk-Jankowska NZOZ SAFE MED.
Firefighters from the Zabrze-Mikulczyce OSP did not disappoint, providing plenty of excitement for the youngest – shooting at a target with water from a haystack, touring fire engines, carrying on a rescue stretcher.
Carbonated and non-carbonated “kokotka” water from EKO PARTNER awaited the thirsty.
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Zabrze water is healthy, safe and on such a hot day perfectly quenches thirst. According to EU requirements, water in taps throughout Poland is drinkable. The national waterworks, among other events like this, promote drinking tap water – said Malgorzata Beciri of Zabrze Waterworks and Sewerage Company, a RIG member company in Katowice.
For lovers of high speed and competition, Jarosław and Marcin Szeja Rally Team provided a racing bouncy castle, which was constantly besieged by the youngest, as well as older “picnickers”.
–It is awesome, this, we are very satisfied. “Inflatables”, Mr. Kleks’s Fairy Tale, homemade apple pie and the Fire Department – this is what the kids liked the most. In such weather all you need is a cool team and a positive attitude to have fun. Thank you for the perfect organization – said Sylwia You.
– This place is connected with the history of Silesia, coal mining in a fun and educational version. Being here is an interesting experience. Thanks to the picnic, we discovered a new play zone for children – stressed Dagmara Mielus.
For the next family meeting of the RIG “in shorts” in an atmosphere of fun and joy, in a casual picnic atmosphere with refreshments and attractions for children – we invite you next year!
Thank you to everyone who supported our initiative. Participants and Partners, without whom this meeting would not have been possible. Special thanks go to the management of the Coal Mining Museum for organizational prompts and cooperation.
