Time to hang Red Ribbons in schools, homes

Dick Sharke has started on his round of visits to all Petaluma-area schools. It is a journey he has made every year for three decades as he announces the start of Red Ribbon Week and advocates for the need for a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle.

Red Ribbon Week officially starts on Oct. 20 with Celebrate Petaluma Day and Sports Day and runs through Oct. 29-30, concluding with Family Togetherness Weekend. Theme this years is YOLO - You Only Live Once.

The Petaluma City Council will officially proclaim Red Ribbon Week at its meeting on Oct. 17.

Sharke is already hard at work spreading the word. He started last week by visiting Union, Lincoln and Laguna schools. Over the next two weeks, he will visit 18 schools, bringing gifts and his life-saving message of avoiding addictive drugs of all types, including alcohol.

Red Ribbon Week began in 1985 as reaction to the torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. His hometown of Calexico hung red ribbons in his honor, and the red ribbon became a symbol for prevention of drug use as a way to reduce the demand for illegal drugs. The first national Red Ribbon Week was organized in 1988.

In Petaluma, Red Ribbon Week is organized and coordinated by the McDowell Drug Task Force with Sharke as executive director.

When Sharke visits the schools, he doesn’t come empty handed. He brings with him pencils, bookmarks, banners, basketball, soccer balls and similar school supplies and sports gear.

Sharke and his wife fund some of the Red Ribbon Week activities, while the McDowell Drug Task Force provides assistance in coming up with the $13,500 that goes into the gifts and activities. “We make sure that every school gets something,” Sharke said. “We never take a penny. You can’t put a dollar value on our kids.”

The McDowell Drug Education Task Force also funds Project Graduation as well as the DARE and Every 15 Minutes programs. It also provides scholarships for graduating seniors. It receives no government funding of any kind.

Drug education is something that is not only close to Sharke’s heart, but something he has been doing dating back to his military days when he was a Drug Education Specialist in the Army. “I watched guys survive Vietnam only to die on the streets,” he said.

He noted that the problem is just as bad today as when he first became involved. “About 30,000 people a year die of drug or alcohol-related problems in the United States,” he explained. “I have the names of 22 kids in my home who have died on the street.

“We have a lot of great kids in this town, but it’s too bad and sad when we see young people getting DUIs and getting in trouble with drugs.”

Keeping kids away from drugs and alcohol is what Red Ribbon Week is all about, and that is what Dick Sharke is all about.

“I love visiting the schools,” he said. “I get goose bumps when I look at those young faces and see their excitement.”