Special Events

It was a great day at Western Kentucky University for Crime Stoppers and the Kiwanis All-American Soap Box Derby held on May 20, 2000. This is the fifth largest soap box derby in the world with over 120 racers. Crime Stoppers in the Schools Program provided a Super Stock soap box derby car. The Driver was 12 year old Anthony Shaffer. This was the second year for this community support project for the Bowling Green Warren County Crime Stoppers program and it was a great success.

Canadian Mountie Becomes a Kentucky Colonel

It began as an idea in Gillette, Wyoming at the 1998 International Crime Stoppers Conference and became a reality on March 19,1999 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Bowling Green-Warren County Crime Stoppers program hosted Constable Tim Dixon of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers Coordinator to be the keynote speaker at the program's annual fund-raising/community recognition Crime Stoppers Eye Opener Breakfast. Michael Riggs, Special Events and Fund Raising Chairman for the Bowling Green program said, "We have been holding this annual event since 1989. We thought it would be unique to show the citizens of our community that Crime Stoppers is an International organization." Officer Barry Pruitt, the Law Enforcement Coordinator for the program, further explains, "I met Constable Dixon in 1997 at the International Conference in Kelowna, British Columbia. Our community knows that Crime Stoppers is not just a local program but we wanted to emphasize just how successful it is world wide. When I invited Tim to Bowling Green, he agreed and we began the process of making it a reality."

Constable Dixon was a huge hit in the south-central Kentucky community of 80,000. He visited with local Crime Stoppers in the Schools Programs, was the guest of honor at a reception with state and local dignitaries and local, state, and federal law enforcement officials. His  visit was highly publicized by the local media and gave more recognition to the local program than we could have ever imagined. The mere presence of his red jacket, Stetson hat, and brown riding boots caught the entire community by surprise. "We could have raised a lot of money just charging for pictures of Tim in his RCMP uniform. Our community had never seen a real 'Mountie' and everyone wanted a picture of the real thing," said Riggs.

Nearly 300 supporters turned out to hear Tim speak at the breakfast fund raiser. "The support this program receives in Bowling Green is outstanding, I have no worries that Crime Stoppers is doing well in this community," said Constable Dixon. This event created a new level of  community awareness for the Crime Stoppers Program. Al Stonex, Chairman of the local Board states, "If other programs can exchange representatives as we did, I highly recommend they do it. This was the most successful breakfast that we have ever held."

While visiting Bowling Green, Constable Dixon and his wife Liz became  part of a unique Kentucky tradition. During their stay they were both given the honorary title of Kentucky Colonel as proclaimed by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Tim's wife Liz was honored first, which allows her to remain the senior ranking Colonel of the family.

"It was a great three days and the Board Members are grateful to Tim, Liz and the RCMP for working with our local program. We were able to exchange ideas and learn about each others programs. We made new friends and look forward to visiting them in Victoria for the 2000 International conference," said Officer Pruitt. One last traditional southern comment to the Dixons, "Ya'll come back now, ya hear!"