The day finally came, and Connie Hagel's national award arrived in Estevan, allowing the community to celebrate her dedication, commitment and input in cracking down on impaired driving.
Hagel, who stood at the origins of the Estevan's chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), was nominated by Estevan Police Chief Paul Ladouceur and later was recognized for her work as a volunteer of the year at the national level.
"I was happy to nominate Connie … because of Connie's outstanding work and effort in reducing impaired driving within Estevan," said Ladouceur. "The main qualities about Connie is she is 100 per cent committed to the program and she managed to gain a number of volunteers that assisted with the program."
Hagel received her well-deserved award Friday at the Estevan police station.
"Connie started the program here in Estevan a couple of years ago when there was a desperate need and a call for a MADD program in our community," Ladouceur said. "Estevan police has a strong commitment to reducing impaired driving over the past several years, and it's nice to see that this commitment has finally started to pay off."
Among others, one of Hagel's big projects was the "Impaired driver was caught here" sign campaign. The initiative started in Estevan as an effort to remind the community that drinking and driving is never an option, and that if someone does make a poor decision, they should be ready to face the consequences, since impaired drivers get nailed everywhere.
The idea was quickly picked up by other policing agencies, first across Saskatchewan, and later in other provinces.
"This is very humbling because I didn't think that something as small as a sign being put into the community would draw such attention. But MADD is all about awareness, and this is just one big sign of awareness," Hagel said. "People notice the signs; they tell me all the time, 'I saw your sign.'"
She added that the program was created in partnership with the Estevan Police Service (EPS), and she is glad that it's working.
High-visibility check stops, organized in partnership of EPS, SGI and MADD are also proving to be impactful.
"It's a good reminder that it's not only the police's responsibility to reduce impaired driving, but it's everybody's," said Ladouceur. "Connie's attended with her volunteers many of these events, and has been involved with many programs, and raises awareness throughout this community on a constant basis."
Ladouceur also noted that Estevan is finally starting to see a decline in impaired driving cases, which he attributes to joint efforts of the police, community members and volunteers like Hagel and other MADD supporters.
Mayor Roy Ludwig thanked Hagel for her input in battling impaired driving on behalf of the Estevan board of police commissioners.
"We are proud to thank Connie. It's been a great job that Connie has done on behalf of MADD and on behalf of the police department, and it has resulted in lower numbers and is helping to get the drunk drivers off the road. We can't thank you enough for that," Ludwig said.
The award was virtually announced by MADD Canada earlier last month and was then mailed to Estevan to be handed to the recipient.
