PETALUMA (BCN) -- As it was 10 years ago, the focus in Petaluma on Wednesday was Polly Klaas. Both the Polly Klaas Foundation and the KlaasKids Foundation  reflected on the 10th anniversary of the abduction and death of the 12-year-old Petaluma girl on Oct. 1, 1993.

The search for Polly Klaas, the discovery of her body two months later near Cloverdale and the conviction and death sentence of Richard Allen Davis was a national story. And although it ended in tragedy, those involved in the case cite California's three-strikes law enacted five months later, the Amber Alert system and the circulation of flyers and photos of kidnap victims over the Internet as enduring legacies of Polly Klaas.

The 10th anniversary has re-captured the attention of local and national media.

"We knew it was coming. We were aware of the 10th anniversary a long time ago," said Polly's father Marc Klaas, who started the KlaasKids Foundation. KlaasKids Foundation held a commemoration, "A Time to Reflect" at 6 p.m. at the Polly Hannah Klaas Performing Arts Center across the street from Petaluma City Hall.

"This is a milestone we need to commemorate for the good that came out of it, to look at the possibilities not yet realized and to remember the intolerable price sometimes paid to effect social change," Klaas said.

Volunteers who worked to try to find Polly Klaas after she was kidnapped from her bedroom at her Fourth Street home during a sleepover with friends reunited Wednesday evening with other members of the community.

Klaas announced an important new services for missing children. At 11 a.m. Wednesday, the Polly Klaas Foundation held a press conference at the Petaluma Community Center to announce the dedication of more than $40,000 so Petaluma children ages five to ten can participate in personal empowerment safety education called radKIDS, Resist Aggression Defensively. The national program teaches children to feel confident and remain safe in frightening or threatening situations and to recognize, avoid and confront them. Parents and adults who work with children will be trained as radKIDS instructors to teach the 10-hour program. The goal is to train 36 instructors the first year. The Polly Klaas Foundation will pay for the three-day training and materials.

Eve Nichol, Polly's mother, said there was an immediate recognition 10 years ago that her daughter was everyone's child "and that we were all in this together." "This unprecedented outpouring of community support 10 years ago helped create the Polly Klaas Foundation and is the reason we want to give something back today," Eve Nichol said.

Former California Assemblyman George Runner was recognized with an award for his work on legislation establishing the Amber Alert system.

Two national initiatives were also announced which fill the gaps in services not being provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Klaas said he hopes that if a 15th anniversary is commemorated, "we can look back and see even how much better things are." The goal will always be "to make this hideous thing something that could have a positive return," Klaas said.

(Copyright 2003, Bay City News. All rights reserved.)