Hide Article Text (OCR)
KITE radio personality Irene On the Scene” Van Winkle prepares for her entombment in a 5,000 pound block of ice as part of a fundraiser for the Kerrville Police Department’s D.A.R.E. Program. “Dr. Silkini,” at left, a Las Vegas-based hypnotist has performed his act all across the U.S. since 1963. (Times photo by Ken Schmidt)Ato be frozenBy Mike W. ThomasStaff WriterThe Kerrville Police Department D.A.R.E. Program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is often the focus of fundraising efforts by local businesses and community service groups, but rarely are the efforts as unusual as the “Frozen Alive” event in progress at Hillstar Motors.Ray Tuma, general manager of Hillstar Motors, said he hopes to raise enough money during the next two days to fund a new DARE officer position at the Kerrville Police Department. He has invited “Dr. Silkini, a Las Vegas-based magician and hypnotist to come to Kerrville and perform his act which involves encasing a volunteer in a block of ice for 48 hours.Tuma said he worked with Silkini six years ago when he was working in Corpus Christi and noted that the act succeeded in raising a substantial amount of money for charity.Silkini said he has been performing his act all over the U.S. since 1963. He saidit involves the same principleThe volunteer this time is KITE Radio personality Irene “On the Scene” Van Winkle. The act involves having Van Winkle lay down inside a block of ice which is then sealed and doing without food, water or restroom facilities for 48 hours. This is accomplished partly through the power of hypnotic suggestion, according to Silkini.“It is very safe and sane, yet there is some expertise involved which probably explains why I have no competition,” Silkini said.Tuma said he chose the Kerrville D.A.R.E. Program to be the beneficiary for the act because he believes it is one of the best long-term programs for keeping youths off of drugs.“My own children went through the program and now they don’t even want me to smoke,” Tuma said. “It is real effective and makes it very uncool to do drugs.”The D.A.R.E. Program began in 1983 in Los Angeles,Calif, but soon spread nationwide. The program began in Kerrville in 1991 when Melanie Hill was hired to teach the program to 10 classes of students at the three Kerrville Independentschools.Today the program has grown to cover all fifth grade students in Kerrville ISD and at Notre Dame school. Hill teaches 16 classes a week and has graduated more than 2,000 students through the program.The program teaches students how to resist the pressures to abuse any type of drug that can be ingested and have an effect on the mind. This includes narcotics, alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.Currently the city pays Hill’s salary and budgets $4,000 annually for workbooks, supplies, and training programs. The program also relies heavilv on donations from businesses and community service groups. The Kerrville Rotary Club, for example, provides the T-shirts which are given to everv student who takes thecourse.“The program is not designed to be the answer to drug abuse, but a stepping stone,” Hill said. “It gives students a chance to see a real police officer on a regular basis....Before police were44n c an aclrimn in an itrlnn ”[^lctrw't olomonfarir nnQnni’nai'liahlti at that onro ”
Newspaper Details
Kerrville Daily Times
Kerrville, Texas, US
Tue, Apr 18, 1995
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Mike S.
USA 23 Feb 2019
Other Publications Near Kerrville, Texas
Kerrville Times
Hill View Times
Kerrville Mountain Sun
Kerrville Daily Times
