Ride the Thin Blue Line

The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office has had plans in the works for the section of the Raccoon River Valley Trail adjacent to the new law enforcement center, and tomorrow it’s taking a leap forward.

There is a kickoff event for “Ride the Thin Blue Line,” which is a memorial project for Iowa police officers and first responders that have fallen in the line of duty. It will be held tomorrow at Mickey’s Irish Pub in Waukee, running from 7-11 p.m. The event will include a presentation by Sheriff Chad Leonard, as he will talk about the vision and inspiration behind the project. There will also be performances by two different bands, and attendees will be able to purchase “Ride the Thin Blue Line” t-shirts.

The project is not being paid out of the Sheriff’s Office budget, but instead will be completely funded by public donations. To help that along, a committee has been formed, and they are the ones sponsoring the event. All of the money raised from the kick-off will go directly towards the “Ride the Thin Blue Line” memorial. Leonard says he’s a bit surprised what started as a simple idea has made it this far, but he feels the project will be a great destination for the public. “I want it to be more of a history lesson when you pull in, that you’re learning about the importance that these people played in our lives. And I want their families to be proud of it. We’re looking forward to it. This is more of a fundraising idea for the future, after the Sheriff’s Office is built. But some of the people that came on board and wanting to do this, they’ve kind of taken ahold of it and moving forward with it on their own.”

Leonard adds, the kick-off event is not a bike event, but is intended to be a celebration and informative fundraiser. To learn more, click the link below to visit the Facebook event page.

https://www.facebook.com/events/612297202522801/