Danke schoen to the 300-plus OkSOBERfest 2009 attendees who filled the Oak Harbor Elks Lodge on Oct. 9.

It was so gratifying to see so many people having such a great time that helped IDIPIC raise thousands — that will be doubled thanks to Island Thrift — for its DUI and Underage Drinking prevention work in our schools and driving schools.

We couldn’t have done it without you and many, many others: our co-host The Oak Harbor Elks; our hardworking committee; our many sponsors and helpers who offset event costs; OHHS SADD students who served the food; local police officers, deputies and troopers who did the mock field sobriety tests; Jan Ellis and The Oompah Band; NAS Whidbey personnel and IDIPIC volunteers who prepped for or worked during OkSOBERfest and also helped run games; The Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce for selling tickets and along with Midway Florist and Martin’s Auto Electric running a reader board promotion; Jenny Manning for the great Whidbey News-Times article; The Whidbey Playhouse for loan of the Room of Doom props, and Papa John’s and Dominoes Pizza who fed our event crew for free during two nights of set up.

And last but not least, thank you to the 100-plus businesses throughout Whidbey and beyond as well as the Island County Sheriff’s Office (lunch at the jail for four) that graciously donated auction items or gift certificates.

Together, you all put the “u” in success to help IDIPIC strive for “safer kids, safer roads” next year, and that benefits us all!

Let’s all do it again OkSOBERfest ‘10!

Finally, a special thank you to our director JoAnn Hellmann for the hours of work she dedicates to our mission to deter driving under the influence and underage drinking in our communities through education and awareness.

Karen Lewis

President