DRUG-DEATH MEMORIAL ERECTED AT YUKON HIGH

YUKON -- Shaun Acklin would have been 16 years old now cruising around
in the 1971 Ford pickup he and his dad were fixing up.

Instead, work on the pickup has been abandoned and the vehicle remains
idle next to the Acklin family home. Shaun died May 28 after taking
methadone. His father, Ron Acklin, still remembers the last
conversation he had with his son. It was the last day of school. Shaun
called about 7 p.m. to remind his father he was going to a party
celebrating the start of summer. Acklin said he gave his son the
typical speech: Don't drink. Don't get into a car with kids who have
been drinking. Stay out of trouble. He said his son simply responded
with: "I will, dad. I love you." By the following afternoon the Acklin
family's world had been turned upside down. Police visited the Acklin
home to tell them their son had been found dead at the home of
friends. An autopsy report later confirmed that Shaun had died from a
methadone overdose.

Six months later, the Acklin family is still reeling from Shaun's
death. "I've cried more in the past six months than I have in 40
years," Acklin said. "And Starla (Shaun's mother) still cries all the
time." Instead of heading off to Yukon's Miller Stadium to watch his
son play football with the high school team, Acklin can be found at
Yukon Cemetery, across the street from the school. He said he's trying
to break away from going so often, but for now, he visits each morning
before work and each evening before going home.

"It's been hell. Everything I see reminds me of him," Acklin said. "We
couldn't bear to be at the house for Thanksgiving so we went out of
town, and we'll do the same at Christmas time."

Though he doesn't think life will ever return to normal, Acklin said
he now views his son as being a "sacrificial lamb" of sorts. "He
wasn't a dopehead. He just made a bad decision and he paid the
ultimate price for it," Acklin said. "But all the changes made with
the drug policy here have been amazing."

Yukon School District now requires all students participating in
extracurricular activities to submit to random drug testing. An
anonymous drug-tip line has been established, and drug dogs visit the
school weekly. Although the changes have come too late to help Shaun,
Acklin said if the new policy keeps one parent from going through what
his family has gone through, then it is worth it.

Acklin said he hasn't been able to get any information about where the
methadone came from. Police closed the investigation as a drug
overdose. "I wouldn't wish anything like this on anyone," Acklin said.
Shaun excelled in school, was an all-around athlete and loved the
outdoors. Acklin also loves the same activities and now says it is
impossible for him to escape the haunting memories of his son.

"It's like one day everything is just 'lolly golly.' And the next day
he isn't here," Acklin said.

The Acklin family has placed a memorial to Shaun at Yukon High School,
including a memorial plaque placed next to a 3,200-pound "Thinking
Rock," where students are invited to sit and think about how their
decisions can affect their lives and the lives of the ones they love.
Acklin said he hopes the memorial will dissuade students from using
drugs.