This Saturday at Safety Town

I'll never forget the day as long as I live.  It's as vivid as 9-1-1 in my mind.  March 30, 2010.  I remember that we were having a big meeting in the office and Amy Bloxom was late.  It was a little odd because she's never late for anything, and you notice when Amy's "not" there.  See Amy's the kind of woman who lights up the whole room when she walks in.  She's tall and beautiful, always smiling, always has a kind word for everyone and more important to me; she's my friend.  And not just that "acquaintance" kind of friend, she's the kind of friend who'd drop everything to come pick you up if your car broke down or sit for hours and let you vent about whatever is troubling you.  THAT kind of friend.  It was only after the meeting that I found out why she was late.  Our General Manager at that time was Charlie Thomas.  Charlie called me from his cell phone as he was driving out of the parking lot.  He said, "Gary, the reason Amy didn't make it to the meeting is that Justin spent the night at a friend's house and now they can't find him anywhere.  I need for you to get all the stations to ask for people who might have seen him or know of his whereabouts to give us a call."  I got right on it; worried about Justin but never imagined what I'd later find out.  See, Amy's got GREAT kids!  All 4 of her boys are the kind of kids that most of us parents use as examples when we tell our kids how they should act.  So, Justin COULDN'T be doing anything wrong.  He just wandered off to fish in a pond or down to another friend's house and didnt' tell anybody...that's what I was thinking.  About 2 hours later, I got another call from Charlie...THE CALL.  The call that made me hug my boys for hours.  The call that made Julie and I re-evaluate all our "rules" for the kids.  The call NO PARENT should ever get.  Since that call, we've made it our mission to help Amy see to it that NO OTHER PARENT should get "that call" because of the evil of others.  And that's why I hope you'll join us this Saturday from 9am to 2pm at Sheriff's Safety Town for "Justin Bloxom - We Care About Our Kids Day".  The Sheriff's Deputies will cover everything from "Stranger Danger" to bicycle safety, water safety, weather safety to internet safety and what's called "sexting".  And it's 100% FREE.  So, if for no other reason than "That Call", I hope you'll join us.