For 26 years, Maggie Roberts has been coordinating and delivering docudramas for the Meramec Regional Planning Commission.

On Sept. 27, the St. James resident did a docudrama during the Community Safety Day event at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.

During the afternoon, numerous people witnessed a mock car accident that involved a drunk driver. Several actors and local first responders such as the Montgomery Fire Protection District and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department participated in the production.

“It’s always good to see it,” Roberts said. “It’s always good to see how well it goes.”

The docudrama was one of the new programs for the Community Safety Day event, which wrapped up its second year. The five-hour event had activities for all ages, such as bounce houses, water games, water barrel contests and the arrival of a helicopter.

Community Safety Day is a free family event that instructs county citizens the importance of protecting themselves during an emergency. Montgomery Fire Protection District assistant chief Cody Fortmann, who was the event’s coordinator, said he was pleased with this year’s turnout.

“It was definitely bigger than it was last year,” he said. “We had a little more time to prepare for it.”

Besides the local first responders, Community Safety Day also had organizations such as the University of Missouri Extension, Montgomery County 4-H, Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, Parents as Teachers and Youth In Need Head Start.

“I want to thank all of the first responders and all of the volunteers we had to help orchestrate this and even the ones who came in, like the Boys Scouts from Hermann,” Fortmann said. “They came forward and decided to cook some food and make some snocones. It’s really nice to see the community come together. That’s what this event is for.”

The helicopter came from Air Evac Lifeteam of Pike County. More than 30 children got to go inside the helicopter in the second hour of the event.

“Whenever you get to watch one land and literally go up and sit inside of it or pull out the gurney and see what’s all inside of a helicopter that they use for emergency services is pretty neat,” Fortmann said.

Fortmann said plans for this year’s Community Safety Day began immediately after the first annual event, which was on Sept. 18, 2024 at the fairgrounds.

“As soon as we got done with last year’s event, we started making phone calls and trying to get people on the roster,” Fortmann said. “As soon as we knew a date, we were ready to stay.”

Roberts did a docudrama in the southern part of Missouri before heading to Montgomery City on Sept. 27. She said she was contacted by Montgomery City resident Di O’Bannon to work on a docudrama at Community Safety Day.

“We started planning and doing, so there we go,” Roberts said.

After the skit, MRPC communications and marketing manager Caitlin Jones addressed to the audience that drivers must avoid bad decisions such as drinking and driving and not wearing a seatbelt.

“She’s my cohort in crime when I need some help,” Roberts said.

Fortmann said the docudrama taught first responders how to handle serious car accidents that involve a drunk driver.

“We have to be a lot more cautious like we do on an actual fire scene,” Fortmann said. “We have to be cautious for the patient’s care so that we don’t make their injuries any worse than they were when we got there. Dealing with a live patient, you never know what’s actually going to happen whenever you’re working on them. It puts a new perspective into the work.”

Roberts was in the education field for many years before she started working with the MRPC and doing docudramas all over the state.

“I started doing it while I was still teaching because I lost a student in drunk driving,” Roberts said. “He did what he thought he was supposed to do. He’s going to deny it, but the next morning, he is still going to be drunk. He was in a head on. So I waited about a year and I thought, ‘Man, I can’t go through that again because his family was friends (with me).’ Then, I started doing them.”

Next year’s Community Safety Day is scheduled for Sept. 26, 2026. Roberts plans to do another docudrama that day.

“From what I understand, we’re coming back next year,” Roberts said.