On Wednesday, March 19, the Santa Maria Police Officers' Association and the northern Santa Barbara County chapter of the National Latino Peace Officers' Association co-hosted our first annual Community Dinner at the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Maria.

The event was, in our estimation, a huge success. We had announced we would serve the first 500 people to arrive between 3 to 7 p.m., but we served over 600 meals. Unfortunately, we ran out of food and turned people away by 6:15.

Nonetheless, we hope to make this a yearly event, our way of saying thank you to the community we are very privileged to serve.

We want to thank our many sponsors for the event, including the Pine Street Café, Calderon's Tires, Ray Lopez Automotive and Four Corners Towing, Babe' Farms, Bimbo Bread, Hampton Farming Co., Costco, Pepsi Co., and the members of both associations who donated both their cash and their time to make this event happen.  

We want to also especially thank Yolanda Ramos, widow of slain officer Robert Ramos, and Mel Raveling, of the Santa Maria chapter of the Red Cross, who both gave freely of their time to help make this event a success.

Larry Vernon

Treasurer

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Santa Maria Police Officers' Association

Santa Maria

March 28, 2008