Father crusades for 2 girls he lost

[Times photo: Kevin White] We Remember Inc. volunteers Teresa Colon, 16, left, Anita Camus, 17, and Jessica Sturgis, 14, listen as the Rev. Frank Koessel leads an opening prayer during Alcohol Awareness Day, sponsored by We Remember Inc. at the Hernando County Fairgrounds.

A drunken driver killed Vernon Waldron's daughters. He now has a mission: Warn of the dangers of drinking.

By JAMIE MALERNEE

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 19, 2000

BROOKSVILLE -- Vernon Waldron fluctuated between emotions -- one moment hopeful, the next minute angry, the following moment sad. But his resolution stood unwavering.

The crowd that gathered for Alcohol Awareness Day at the Hernando County Fairgrounds was disappointingly small. Perhaps it would grow by the time Men at Work singer Colin Hay, came on, some of the volunteers hoped. If not, Waldron would press on.

Like he always has.

A Hernando County resident and father of two daughters who were killed by a drunken driver, Waldron is also the founder of We Remember Inc., a local organization that aids families and victims of drunken drivers. He had worked hard to organize Saturday's fundraiser and, despite the low turnout, made the best of the situation by attracting a small crowd of teens as he talked about the dangers of drinking and the way one crash altered his life.

He never asked for an audience; they were simply drawn in by his story.

"I get emotional talking about the girls," he said, apologizing as tears came to his eyes as he spoke of his two daughters, Thara, 17, and Autumn, 10, who died three years ago in a head-on collision that also almost took their mother. "Sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's hard."

The really difficult part, he would later add, is getting people to listen.

"Every person that I've spoken to does not necessarily recognize the consequences of their actions," he said. "I spoke to a driving class this week and I asked them, "Could you look into the eyes of someone like me knowing you killed my daughters?' 'Cause that could happen. And then I see the tears start welling up."

Young people have been the most receptive to his message, Waldron said. During the past school year, he went to every high school in the county and gave talks about drunken driving. He wants to make this talk, which he does for free, a requirement for graduation and is currently discussing the possibility with School Board members, he said.

Jessica Sturgis, a Central High School student, thinks that is a good idea. Sturgis was friends with Chelsea Druzbick, who died in February after authorities say a drunken driver hit the car she and Danielle Werner, who was also killed, were in.

"You always hear about it happening to other people, but you never imagine it happening to your own friends," Sturgis said. "I used to drink, but I've changed. I won't touch alcohol anymore. Me and my friends would talk on the phone and just start crying because we miss (Chelsea) so much."

A tougher audience to crack, Waldron said, are politicians. Last year, Waldron and members of the Clearwater-based Campaign for Alcohol Free Kids went to Washington and appealed to House Speaker Dennis Hastert for tougher penalties against people who served alcohol to minors and those who are visibly intoxicated. Waldron said Hastert and others promised them support and special congressional hearings -- but neither materialized.

"The man sat there, hugged me and said he'd personally do something," Waldron recalled bitterly. "He never did. Later in the year, he gave the special congressional hearing to a guy who had invented low-flush toilets. I don't understand it."

So instead of waiting for government support, Waldron said he is going straight to the people. He has hired a lawyer to draw up a referendum on drinking issues for Florida residents to vote on. In the next few months, he will start collecting signatures to get it on the ballot.

"If we take it out of the political hands and put it in the hands of the voters, we'll get something done," he said.

State Sen. Ginny Brown-Waite -- who attended the fundraiser that included the music of Men at Work's vocalist Colin Hay and opening act Janet Robin -- said she would continue to try to do her part. The daughter of an alcoholic, she said she personally knew the cost of drinking and driving.

"I remember growing up as a child and waiting with my mother by the window for him to come home," she said of her father. "I'll never know if he killed anybody because when he came home, he'd be almost comatose."

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