Twenty years ago, Ypsilanti Township Fire Marshal Phil Stachlewitz responded to an alcohol-related accident on Ford Boulevard near East Forest Avenue. He was first on the scene and arrived to find a car carrying three teenagers had flipped.

Two of the occupants didn't survive. One of them, Kristen Cloud, 16, died as Stachlewitz attempted to save her life.

The accident had always stayed with him because of the ages of those involved and a reminder in the form of a large memorial erected in Cloud’s honor in the cemetery where Stachlewitz's parents are buried.

But Stachlewitz had never met Cloud’s parents until Ypsilanti Public Schools' Safe Schools Program kicked off the Red Ribbon "Tie One On" Campaign in late November.

Ron Weidbusch, a safety consultant for the district, spoke about the loss Cloud’s family had suffered. He mentioned Kristen Cloud’s mother, Beverly Cloud, was in the audience representing Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The name jolted Stachlewitz’s memory. After the speech, he approached Beverly Cloud to tell her he tried to help her daughter the night she died.

“It was an emotional moment for both of us,” he said.

Cloud said she felt a rush of emotions.

“I was just floored,” she said. “I had no idea who been there with her. I said I couldn’t believe he remembered after 20 years, and he said he would never forget. I was pretty much shocked.”

It was a poignant moment to start a season in which Weidbusch says teen fatalities in alcohol-related car accidents spike each year.

“We want people to think twice before they put their keys in the ignition if they’ve been drinking because we need the holidays to be a happy time, not a time of tragedy,” he said.

Each year, the Red Ribbon Campaign at Ypsilanti High School is launched with the help of the special education program, where Beverly Cloud was a secretary until she retired in July. Weidbusch said Ann Arbor Public Schools joined the effort this year.

Weidbusch estimates the local program could reach up to 20,000 people this year, and will distribute more ribbons throughout the season than ever before.

“It’s just a wonderful situation,” he said. “Our main goal is to get information out to student drivers and for them not to be involved in drinking and driving.”

Weidbusch said he is particularly proud of the kids in the special education program at YPS for cutting and distributing the ribbons for key chains, car antennas and anywhere else they could be a visual reminder to make people hesitate before drinking and driving.

On Tuesday, the Red Ribbon campaign will kick off at Ann Arbor's Huron High School during a 10 a.m. ceremony.

MADD annually distributes more than 200,000 red ribbons during the holiday season. In conjunction with the campaign, law enforcement agencies will be conducting additional enforcement during the holidays to crack down on drunken driving.

The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department and six other area police departments will beef up patrols this month under a grant funded by the Office of Highway Safety and Planning. Sheriff's Sgt. Lisa King said said officers will focus on high-crash areas.

“There will be a lot more officers out there just doing traffic stops,” King said. “Hopefully we can deter any serious or fatal crashes over the holiday season by doing this,”

Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.