(Left)Executive Director/Leslie Watson,Sandy grubbs,Jeanne Dark,Larry Smith,Kassidy Brown,Suzi Stein

1. NJ man tells cops ‘everyone drives drunk’ on New Year’s Eve

The very fact that Patti Foster was standing in front of the crowd speaking defied her doctors’ expectations.

More than 12 years ago, a wreck involving a drugged driver nearly took Ms. Foster’s life. She suffered severe head trauma and was in a coma for six weeks.

Doctors told her family that she would never talk, walk or read again. If she did live, it would be in a persistent vegetative state.

Yet there she was reading poetry expressively while standing on a stage she had walked up to in front of a crowd of about 260 people.

“From this moment, from that breath you just took, may you choose to live your life on purpose,” she said.

As the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s Tie One On for Safety luncheon, Ms. Foster encouraged attendees to make the most of each moment of their lives.

MADD East Texas executive director Leslie Watson said the event, which the East Texas Mothers Against Drunk Driving affiliate puts on, serves as an opportunity to kickoff the annual Tie One On For Safety campaign.

The campaign, which is in its 28th year, calls for drivers to display a red ribbon on their vehicles as a reminder to plan ahead and designate a non-drinking driver before holiday celebrations.

Nationwide in 2012, more than 1,000 people were killed in drunken driving crashes between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, Ms. Watson said.

In Ms. Foster’s case, the driver of the vehicle that hit her was not drunk, but high on a cocktail of five drugs and talking on the cell phone, she said.

Prior to the wreck, the Jacksonville native had focused her career on radio before becoming a full-time speaker for churches and corporate organizations.

After the 2002 wreck, Ms. Foster had to learn how to live again. Her motto of sorts became “Make a difference now.”

A person never knows how many moments they have left in life, she said. Lay hold of each moment, she said.

Ms. Foster said when she was asked to speak at this event, she thought about the name of it, “Tie One On For Safety.”

The words “safety” and “safe” struck her and she made an acrostic to define what safe means to her.

S is “stand for something” be it values, beliefs, guidelines or boundaries. A is “activate what matters.” Don’t just talk about things; do them, she said. F is “friendliness plays a role.” A person’s tone of voice, demeanor and words have power to affect people and situations. E is “embrace opportunities.” These opportunities may not always be easy or comfortable, but embrace them.

In addition to Ms. Foster’s message, the organization presented four Difference Maker Awards to people who promote through their activities or policies some aspect of MADD’s mission.

Honorees were: Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith; Miss Texas Outstanding Teen Kassidy Brown; Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Jean Dark; and Cristin and Katie Grubbs Foundation founder Sandy Grubbs.

In closing the event, Suzi Stein, president of the MADD East Texas Regional Advisory Council, said the organization is not about harassing people who like to drink with a friend or picketing bars.

Instead, it is about educating the public and changing attitudes. She encouraged people to donate to the organization and to avoid drinking and driving.