MADD ceremony is remembrance of crash victims

At 6 p.m. Thursday, the local Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter will host the 20th annual A Light of Hope Ceremony at the Lamp Post event center on Main Street in Franklin.
The ceremony will feature a time of remembrance for victims of drunk or drugged driving crashes. Members of MADD recognize that there are, unfortunately, many families in St. Mary Parish who have had the course of their life changed forever by an impaired driver, and issue this invitation to all to attend and light a candle in memory or honor.
MADD has had a presence in St. Mary Parish since 1995, when former Baldwin Police Chief Gerald Minor and Greg Ibert issued a call for an organizational meeting to charter a MADD chapter.
The call was answered by many, as Minor anticipated, due to the large number of alcohol-related fatalities on St. Mary Parish roads and highways.
He, along with members Delores and Noel Norton, spent months completing the necessary paperwork to charter the parish chapter. Once completed, the group set about promoting awareness of drunk driving and offering prevention information.
The chapter said Judge Ed Leonard played a pivotal role in the local chapter’s success when he urged members to provide a service to the Courts by hosting Victim Impact Panels for DWI offenders.
MADD members received the required training and began offering the monthly panel sessions. To date, over 2,000 DWI offenders have been court ordered to attend a Victim Impact Panel session.
Just as the name implies, MADD Chapter members, who are victims, share their personal testimony of how a crash impacted and changed their life forever.
The guest speaker for this year’s A Light of Hope Ceremony will be former Sheriff David Naquin.
When the ceremony was first held in St. Mary, Naquin hosted the event at the Sheriff’s Office in Franklin.
Local MADD Chapter member Jacki Ackel stated said observance of the group’s 20th anniversary celebration, the group wanted to go back to "the roots." Naquin, a long-time supporter of the organization, eagerly agreed to speak at the anniversary observance.
As a career law enforcement officer, Mr. Naquin, has seen far too many fatalities and serious injuries directly caused by impaired drivers.
The ceremony will also feature naming the Top Cops of St. Mary Parish, those officers from both the parish and local agencies as well as Troop I who have been diligent and vigilant in removing impaired drivers.