By John Estridge
The whole community came together for the annual Red Ribbon Week in Union County, Wednesday, Oct. 12, at Frame’s Outdoor Sports Supply.
Speakers, art contests and more were the norm for the day for fifth graders from both Liberty Elementary and College Corner schools. The theme for this year’s Red Ribbon Week in UC was #celebrate life #live drug free.
Retired Navy Master Chief Machinist Mate Jeff Mathews, who served on submarines throughout his storied career and is also a Union County native, talked about how students should deal with bullying and peer pressure.
Other speakers included representatives from the Union County Sheriff’s Department, Liberty Police Department, Connersville Police Department K-9 unit, Indiana State Police, Indiana Excise Police, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Indiana National Guard, firefighters from both Liberty and College Corner fire departments, and Union County Health Department.
Topics included information on methamphetamines, alcohol and illegal drugs.
Red Ribbon Week began nationally in 1985. Initially, it was a tribute to fallen Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique Camarena.
According to the DEA, Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s largest and longest-running drug awareness and prevention program.
To understand the significance of Red Ribbon Week, it is important to know more about Agent Camarena.
According to the DEA website concerning Red Ribbon Week and Camarena, he was born in Mexicali, Mexico in 1947. His family moved to Calexico, California where he graduated high school in 1966. He joined the Marine Corps and spent two years with that branch of the service. Following his return home, he served as a police officer and fireman both in Calexico and Imperial County.
In 1974, he joined the DEA. Seven years later he was assigned to Guadalajara, Mexico. For more than four years, Camarena was investigating a major drug pipeline and was near breaking the case wide open. But before he could do that, he was kidnapped by five armed gunmen while he and his wife were driving to a luncheon.
Those gunmen threw Camarena into a waiting vehicle and that was the last time anyone, but the kidnappers saw Camarena alive.
It is believed he was killed two days later after being tortured. His body was not found for almost a month.
He left three children at home.
After his death, Congressman Hunter Duncan and high school friend Henry Lozano started Kiki Clubs in Calexico. Kiki was Camarena’s nickname.
Club members wore red ribbons and signed pledges to live drug-free lives in Camarena’s memory. Those clubs expanded to the entire state of California before going national. Red Ribbon Week was formalized in 1988 by the National Family Partnership with President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan serving as honorary chairpersons.
It is estimated that each year for one week in October, 80 million people take part in Red Ribbon Week.
According to local organizers, the students locally were very engaged with the activities and asked speakers many questions.
A special thank you for the event goes out to Union County’s Alvin Day.
For more information about efforts to educate the county’s youth about substance abuse problems, please go to the Facebook page Prevention is the Cure. Red Ribbon Week and other events and contests, including the Facebook page are sponsored by Family Services and Prevention Programs and Union County Health Department. The two groups are working together utilizing a Division of Mental Health and Addictions grant.