Honored officers in the front row are Detective John Lopez, Detective Tanya Gooden, and Senior Corporal Greg Ceraso and his partner canine, Aygo.  Standing behind the honorees are supporting fellow Dallas Police personnel, Department Chiefs and Chief Eddie Garcia.
 
Since it was chartered in 1977, The Prestonwood Rotary Club has remained loyal to its founding principles, and in October 2021 the club had an opportunity to resume its time-honored practice of recognizing the Dallas Police Department and specifically three Dallas police officers for exceptional service to the community.
“It’s really a wonderful opportunity for our club,” Prestonwood Program Chair Vickie Campbell said. “The coronavirus pandemic began to appear in the fall of 2019, right when we were working with the Dallas PD to identify that year’s honorees, and everything shut down.”
Among the obstacles that Prestonwood Rotary encountered were the waitstaff layoffs at the club because it wasn’t booking events, uncertainty about how to meet as a Rotary club when usual in-person venues weren’t available, doubt over what programs could be continued because so much of the population had gone into semi-isolation (at the very least) while waiting for word from health officials as to when a vaccine would be available, and, unfortunately, coping with COVID-19 illnesses within their own families.
 
“We’re really happy to be back at Prestonwood Country Club for the awards ceremony and lunch,” Campbell continued, “because it completes the circle of service our club has maintained for so long.”
The awardees are selected through their department supervisors at the Dallas Police Department. Prestonwood Rotary presents the winners and their families with an commemorative plaque, a cash gift, two tickets to their annual fundraiser and a Thin Blue Line water bottle to the officer.   
 
“We have had great response from our Rotary members and from the Dallas Police Department itself,” Campbell concluded. “I think it takes more than an international health pandemic to stifle the enthusiasm of Rotarians.”