Sheriff promotes Puskarich, names new DARE officer
As any adult who has conversed with the younger set knows, kids say the darnedest things.
In his more than a quarter-century of trying to keep children on the straight-and-narrow through Drug Abuse Resistance Education, here’s the most startling question Pat Puskarich fielded:
“Would you marry my mom?”
Puskarich has loved the kids as much as they’ve loved him; however, matrimony was not one of the goals of his work with the DARE program.
But he has taken the plunge of another sort. “Dunk tank, Trinity East,” he said, rubbing his aching back to soothe it. And he’s taken more than his share of pies splattered in his face.
“Everybody knew Deputy Pat,” said Sheriff Samuel Romano last week in announcing a changing of the guard as Puskarich is promoted to sergeant.
Deputy Sheriff Elizabeth Davidson is making her debut as DARE officer, and she has a tough act to follow.
But part of her mission is to let the community – and fifth- and sixth-graders – know that just because Puskarich will be assuming new duties, the DARE program in Washington County is not going away.
“We are always looking for funding,” Davidson said. “We want to keep this program going, for sure,” even if, during the novel coronavirus pandemic, DARE makes its way into classrooms via Zoom instead of in person.
To the tune of about $15,000 per school year, donations pay for workbooks and T-shirts, plus prizes for students who write the best report or assemble the best DARE box, a repository for anonymous questions.
It’s those probing questions that Puskarich will cherish, like the time he had to research how tar in tobacco smoke affects the lungs.
“The questions are unbelievable for their age,” Puskarich said. “You politely say you’ll get back to them.
“Anything we do to keep the young people off drugs is our main concern.”
Davidson is a mom of two who loves animals, and an in-person visit may find her in the company of K-9 Officer Obie and his handler, Deputy Kristie Salzman.
“I’m going to schools so they know we’re passing the torch,” Davidson said. “And keeping the program alive.”