Ollie the Otter has been teaching kids to buckle up for years, but where did the idea of Ollie come from?
Turns out Ollie was the brainchild of a local lady. Carol Coleman had the idea to keep children safe and educate not only children but the public at large about booster seat safety.
In March of 2020 Ollie reached 1 million kids and the community was ready to honor Carol, but unfortunately the world had other plans, first a tornado ripped through the midstate closely followed by a global pandemic essentially shutting down the planet, so the ceremony was put on hold, then just when they thought they could honor Carol they were once again shutdown by the weather.
So finally last Wednesday, November 29, 2023, Ollie the Otter along with the Highway Depart, Livingston City Mayor and Coleman family all gathered at Livingston City Hall to bestow a well-deserved award on this individual who helped keep children across the state and even other states safe.
When Carol spoke she stated she had no idea she was the one being honored and she instead thought it was her husband, but alas everyone gathered to shower her with appreciation and admiration.
To this date Ollie the Otter has impacted 1,289,469 kids, been in 52,989 classrooms and 5,197 schools across 9 states.
