ELSANOR - Maybe the best part of the day was when McGruff the Crime Dog posed with a class of Pre-K students. Or maybe it was the stifled oohs and ahhhhs when Randy Younce, a Baldwin County Sheriff’s deputy brought Tjordo, a police dog into the gym. Or maybe it was touring a Sheriff’s Office’s vehicle, tricked out with satellite transmission capabilities and other neat stuff, and taking a look at a display of narcotic paraphernalia.

Or maybe the most important thing was Deputy Jeff Spalling leading the youngsters in a cheer “We can be,” started Spalling “DRUG FREE,” shouted the fourth- fifth- and sixth-grade students at the assembly.

At any rate, Friday, Oct. 30 is a day that students at Elsanor Elementary School will not soon forget.

Red Ribbon week commemorates the work of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena. Camarena was an effective officer, and was kidnapped on Feb. 7, 1985 while working in Mexico. His body was recovered in early March of that year. After his death, “Camarena Clubs” sprang up in Camarena’s hometown of Calexico, Cali. Members of the clubs wore a red ribbon in his honor.

The movement went nationwide, and today, students  and others across the country wear red ribbons and pledge to live drug-free lives. The event is held during the last week of October.

“The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office cares about you,” Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack told the students. “One day, one of you could be standing up here as the sheriff of Baldwin County. Stay true to yourselves and stay away from drugs.”

Mack added that some 650 individuals are in the Baldwin County Corrections Center, most in jail on drug-related charges.

Spalling advised the students, “You have to make good decisions. We can’t make them for you.”

After cautioning the students to be quiet, Younce brought Tjordo into the assembly. The K-9 officer was excited, and Younce had to quiet his partner several times.

He explained that Tjordo, a Belgian Malnois, has been with  the Sheriff”s Office for three years. In that time, the dog has found about 700 pounds of marijuana and quantities of other drugs. The dog cost the Sheriff”s Office about $12,000 and Tjordo lives with Younce.

This is the second police dog Younce has been partnered with. The first dog died, and Tjordo has been with Younce since he came to the BCSO.

Losing his partner was sad, but Younce told the students, “They are not like pets. The job must continue.”