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Passing the torch
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With the Summer Games of Special Olympics Kansas set to begin, the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office sponsored a celebration marking the Larned and Great Bend leg of the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run Wednesday evening. Luke Shulte, the LETR vice president of development from Garden City was on hand to thank runners for their participation in the event.  Officers representing the Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office, the Larned Police Department, and the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facilty took part in a short run that began at 1st and Carroll in Larned and ending at the south side of the courthouse where they broke for hot dogs and burgers.  Schulte and some officers then tranported the torch to Great Bend for the second leg of the run, which ended at Waters True Value hardware where members of the Great Bend Storm Special Olympics team were on hand to share ice cream.  The Law Enforcement Torch Run® began in 1981 in Wichita as a vision of Chief Richard LaMunyon, who wanted to give his officers an opportunity to participate in something positive. Schulte noted Larned’s was the first leg of the Kansas run this year. Today, the LETR is held in all 50 states and 42 countries around the world. The event raises more than $58 million annually and recruits more than 110,000 law enforcement officers from all over the world.