DARE TO BE GREAT

FRANCONIA - A sea of 140 elementary school students dressed in white
DARE T-shirts filled the Earl-Bowl Lanes on Sunday, aiming for
victory and cheering for Retro Bill, who made a guest appearance from
Beverly Hills, Calif.

"He's the most in demand K through 12 speaker in the United States,"
said Tim Boyle, a Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer with the
Franconia Township Police Department.

Retro Bill, who sports a 50s-style pompadour, is the Official DARE
Safety Buddy for the national program. As a representative for
numerous children's programs, he spends 300 days a year on the road
and his visit on Sunday was hosted by the police department.

He is really Bill Russ, who feels it is his calling to inspire
children to make good decisions in their lives, follow their dreams
and find their passion in life. When he was 12 years old he wanted to
grow up to be the "modern day Mr. Rogers."

"What really put it in motion was when two high school seniors were
killed by a drunk driver," Russ said. "They were high school
sweethearts and had been dating since freshman year."

They were students at his high school in Illinois who played
instruments, were involved in the theater and entertained the elderly
in nursing homes. The drunken driver was also one of the students at
his school. He made bad choices and wound up in prison.

"I thought I want to go out and motivate kids not to make bad
choices," Russ said.

He found success as a writer, producer, actor and artist. Then he
turned to motivational speaking and created Retro Bill, using props
and humor. He hopes to improve the United States, reducing drugs and
violence, by empowering children to do well in life.

As music blared, the children ran around getting Retro Bill and the
Franconia DARE police officers to autograph their T-shirts.

"It's a great opportunity to keep them busy for the afternoon and
they really seem to enjoy Retro Bill," said Collette Hendler of
Franconia, whose son Alex goes to West Broad Street Elementary School.

Alex is in fourth grade and participated in his school's DARE
graduation last week.

"He was very excited about the DARE graduation and this event,"
Hendler said. "They have a nice high energy approach to sharing the
information with them so kids remember what they said."

While other members of their team took their turns bowling, Chris
Ronkainen, 9, and Jack Iannotti, 10, of Vernfield Elementary School,
dashed over to Boyle to get him to autograph their T-shirts below
Retro Bill's signature.

Chris said he was really excited to be part of the first DARE bowling
tournament in the Franconia area.

"It was my first time bowling without bumpers, so far I've really
enjoyed it," Chris said.

And he said his classmate Cody Clemens, 10, earned turkey status with
three strikes in a row.

"I got three strikes without any bumpers," Cody said. "I was really
psyched about it."

Retro Bill bowled too, along with DARE officers from Franconia and Souderton.

"It shows kids that these DARE officers will come out and have fun
with them," Boyle said. "We're real people."

For more information about Retro Bill and to play retro games, such
as Space Invaders, online visit www.retrobill.com.

Earl-Bowl Lanes at Morwood and Allentown roads hosts a family night
on Sundays and Rock-N-Glow bowling with black lights, disco lights
and music on Friday and Saturday nights. For more information call
(215) 723-9130.