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EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Police Department has one of the strongest D.A.R.E. (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) programs in the state and one of the reasons is support from the annual car show each year.
The 26th Annual D.A.R.E. Car Show was held this past Sunday, Aug. 20, at Edwardsville High School, and it was once again an event to remember with about 400 cars showcased, along with an array of solid vendors.
The crowd was outstanding all day, said Edwardsville Police Officer Doug Renth, who coordinated the event.
“This our main fund-raiser we do for the D.A.R.E. program for all Edwardsville schools from kindergarten to high school,” Renth said. “The Chief (Jay Keeven) said recently we are one of the few communities who every student in this town knows an officer and that has a big impact as they get older. It is actually a lot more than than the abbreviation Drug Awareness Resistance Education. It is also teaching the kids how to make good decisions and to have tools in place to be successful.”
Edwardsville Police Lt. Michael Fillback said he is proud of the D.A.R.E. event, the Special Olympics work and all the community programs the police are part of each year.
“The D.A.R.E. Car Show is an ongoing event and has gotten bigger every year,” he said. “Our staff looks forward to it and we had a great day this year. We never get complaints from anyone. Everyone is always happy to come out. It is just another way of touching base with the community and showing that police officers do much more than arrest people. We had several volunteers from the community, the school district and the cheerleaders came out and did presentations.”
