Manassas Journal Messenger | Families find fun at D.A.R.E. day
The sound of Black Jack’s monster truck engine starting sent children running toward the grandstand at the Prince William County Fairgrounds Saturday.
Their parents were close behind.
There’s something about a monster truck that makes people goofy.
Black Jack the Monster Truck was but one of the demonstrations at Drug Abuse Resistance Education Day hosted by the Prince William Police Department.
The foundation of the D.A.R.E. program is teaching children to choose to avoid drugs and violence.
Enola Johnson was in the middle of the stampede.
“I was running after my kids. They were running after the truck,” said Johnson, a school teacher at Occoquan Elementary School.
“No she wasn’t,” said her husband, Johnny Johnson. “She was excited.”
“It just brings out the kid in me,” Enola Johnson admitted.
“They made good time,” Johnny Johnson said of Enola and her sons, Travis and Gairet Snow.
Travis said he’d never seen a monster truck before and Black Jack left him wanting more.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a monster truck that’s real,” Travis, 12, said.
His previous exposure to monster trucks had been on late-night television, he said had been
“I want to go to a rally now.”
Gairet, 10, agreed with his brother.
Also present were the U.S. Coast Guard Honor Guard, skydivers, magicians and antique cars.
Demonstrations by police, rescue workers and firefighters drew crowds.
Allyson Cartwright, 11, said she was amazed at how fast rescue workers could free a person trapped in a car.
The petting zoo, music, food and martial arts demonstrations along with the other attractions were designed to make the day a fun way for children to learn to make the right choices, said the master of ceremonies Marc Woolverton, a retired Manassas police officer.