Officers reunite to recreate 1999 group photo for D.A.R.E.

Hood County lawmen who gathered together for a group photo in 1999 had their plans to recreate the pose last year put on hold by COVID-19.

But on April 13 of this year, the plan was finally carried out when they met once again at Buzzard Hollow Ranch, south of Granbury.

Hood County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Johnny Rose stated that “approximately 22 years ago, Granbury Police Department D.A.R.E. Officer Rodney Casey brought together 12 lawmen for a photo to place on a trading card for his D.A.R.E. kids.”

Rose noted that the trading card with the photo was labeled, “Peacemakers,” and featured a dozen lawmen.

Rose told the HCN, “It was real good seeing everybody and talk about old times.”

D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) was phased out about seven years ago in the Granbury ISD in favor of a similar program called STOP.

Casey, who served as the D.A.R.E. officer for four years during his tenure with the Granbury Police, has since retired and moved to the Austin area.

He told the HCN by phone that the idea behind the photo and the D.A.R.E. trading card was “all about the kids, making good choices. That’s what I was trying to accomplish.”

Lieutenant Rose, the information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, noted that everyone from the original photo was able to be there for the remake, except Sturdivant, who died in 2002 due to cancer.

“It was a bittersweet experience with missing Roy and seeing old friends, but overall a good time was had by all,” Rose stated in a news release. “If you look closely, a picture of Roy was placed in the new group photo that was taken.”

Those in the original photo were: Charlie Cloud, Allen Draper and Roy Sturdivant with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission; Tommy Robertson and Rodney Casey with the Granbury Police Department; Steve Tuggle and Pete “Birt” Wilkerson with the Texas Highway Patrol; Johnny Rose and Russell Ford with the Sheriff’s Office; Gary Turner with the Brazos River Authority; Danny Tuggle (Steve Tuggle’s father) with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department; and Precinct 4 Constable Chad Jordan.

“The purpose there was to get representatives from all the law enforcement agencies in Hood County,” Casey explained.

Rose ended the earlier news release with the statement, “Next group photo in 2041!”