Goodbye 2018! It seems that time is moving faster than ever before.

This will be my last article of 2018, and I decided to end the year on a positive note. No lectures about locking your cars this month.

Instead, I want to talk about our Night Out Against Crime event that was a huge success, Halloween night with Super heroes appearing all over the parish and our annual Thanksgiving Senior Citizens Dinner, where Al “Lil Fats” Jackson wooed the socks off participants with Fats Domino’s best songs, and our POPS Program which makes sure our precious senior citizens are looked after properly.

These programs get good local coverage but we hardly ever get major news outlets to cover these positive and proactive efforts of our department.

In the news or social media we don’t hear positive stories like a case where a lady went to Walmart to do some shopping. After using the self check out and returning home, she realized she left a bag on the carousel.

She returned to the store and approached the clerk working in that area with her receipt in hand. The cashier immediately handed her the one bag that was left behind because someone turned it in.

Another person was shopping in the same store and heard an announcement that the trunk of a vehicle in the parking lot was left open and unattended. The shopper hearing the announcement felt the description could have been her vehicle.

She went outside and sure enough it was her vehicle. The surprising thing was there was a store employee standing next to her vehicle to ensure safety until the customer came out.

The car was secured and she told the employee, whose name was “Dee” a department manager, “Thank you!” The employee informed her he was happy to help keep her vehicle safe.

This is the time of year when we all look back on past Holiday Seasons and think of how things have changed.

I remember one year when a group of my neighbors got together to adopt a family for Christmas.

The ladies in the neighborhood bought food, clothes and toys for the kids of the family chosen by a local church.

One Sunday after the neighbors got together for a Saints game, we all drove to the home of the family to deliver our gifts. The parents had tears in their eyes and the kids were ecstatic, which warmed our hearts.

One kid about 10 years old, looked at my friend Perry Levet and touched his jersey, saying “Drew Brees.” Without a second to spare, Perry Levet took that Jersey off and put it on the kid … and soon we were all in tears.

Perry died of cancer years later but that day will be ingrained in my heart and mind every Christmas! So remember to do something good for someone in need this year, and I promise it will make you feel good for years to come.

At St. John Sheriff’s Office our planning calendar is already starting to fill up for 2019.

Jan. 19 is Martin Luther King Day ,and there will be many events and programs for celebration. Jan. 31 is the SJSO Officer of the Year Program. The public is always invited.

Free tickets will be available at the Sheriff’s Office starting in January.

From my family to yours, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy and safe New Year. Welcome 2019!

Mike Tregre is sheriff of St. John the Baptist Parish. Reach him at m.tregre@stjohnsheriff.org.