| Dive into seafood at annual festival
READINGTON -- The 11th annual Anderson House Seafood Festival fundraiser will be held from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 11-12 at Deer Path Park on West Woodschurch Road. A donation of $5 per adult is suggested and children 12 and under are free. Last year's event raised over $45,000 to support the Anderson House residential treatment program for women recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction. The festival, held rain or shine, attracts more than 5,000 visitors from the tri-state area. Seafood lovers will enjoy lobsters and crab cakes provided by King's Supermarkets and a variety of entrees including fish and chips, fried and blackened shrimp, clams and scallop kabobs from Argyle Restaurant and Jonathan's Harbor. There will be plenty of choices for non-seafood lovers too.
Rockland schools for substance abuse counselors merge
Two Rockland schools that train students to become credentialed alcohol and substance abuse counselors have merged. The CASAC School of the Rockland Council on Alcoholism and other Drug Dependence and the Addiction Counselors Training Program of Rockland County will now operate as the Rockland Chemical Dependency Studies Institute out of the new Haverstraw Center in Haverstraw. "We've had two competing agencies that are now bringing together the finest leaders and instructors in the field under one roof," said Debbie Maidman, operations manager of the new school. "They are coming together with the same mission, the same focus." Accredited counselors who graduate from the school work in outpatient and inpatient treatment centers, the criminal justice system, schools, department of social services and department of transportation evaluations, rehab and halfway houses.
Celebs aside, rehab can work
Lindsay Lohan is back in rehab. It's not surprising, really. How serious can one be about overcoming addiction when one jumps back into the Los Angeles party circuit wearing an ankle bracelet designed to measure one's blood-alcohol content days after checking out of a chic substance-abuse treatment center? Lohan faces new charges of misdemeanor drunken driving, felony cocaine possession and driving on a suspended license following an incident early Tuesday morning. She had been out of rehab less than two weeks. It is not unusual to relapse in substance abuse recovery, celebrity or no. Actor Daniel Baldwin, who allowed ABC News' "Primetime" to tape various stages of his three-month drug-treatment program in Malibu, Calif., reportedly tried nine other treatment centers in his battle with addiction.
Local DJ looks to help other addicts
As local radio personality Rich Dennis, Rich Knott already lived with two names. His addiction to heroin meant having to live with two lives.
I wanted to party all night, the 43 year-old said. I wanted to do it til it was all gone.
But just as a $200-per-day heroin habit doesnt happen overnight, neither does recovery.
For Knott, his path to addiction started with painkillers for a bad back and ended in a 28-day stay in rehabilitation not to mention a stint in jail for robbing a convenience store.
Now five years sober, Knott wants to tell people about drug abuse and its consequences.
When I think about what I did to my friends and family, he said, and the financial hole I put us in ...
Knott said the formation of Operation Our Town inspired him to share what he has learned, as did the people who have asked for his advice since he gave up his drug habit.
Anderson House benefit this weekend
The 11th annual Anderson House Seafood Festival will be held from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Deer Path Park, West Woodschurch Road, Readington Township. There will be musical entertainment by local musicians. The festival benefits the residential treatment program for women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. Suggested donation: $5, free for children 12 and under. Nutrition course at NCC Southside A new, three-credit introductory class in nutrition will be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, beginning Aug. 29, at Northampton Community College's Fowler Family Southside Center, 511 E. Third St., Bethlehem. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of nutrition related to health promotion and disease prevention throughout the life cycle.
Sydney woman admits killing her lover's baby
A woman who killed her lover's baby convinced him of her innocence for two years after the act, a Sydney judge has been told. Even after admitting the crime to police, the woman tried to implicate a stranger she met by chance in prison, according to a statement of agreed facts tendered in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday. The 23-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the 16-week-old baby girl at Dubbo, in central western NSW, in July 2004. She also has admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice. During a sentencing hearing, the woman told Acting Justice Jane Mathews: "I am sorry, I think about it every day". According to the facts, two weeks before the baby died from a blunt force head injury, the woman had tried to enrol in a heroin addiction treatment program her partner had just started.
Home of Grace offers path to addiction recovery
VANCLEAVE -- Ryan Pitalo and Aubrey Brewer, Jr. both said Sunday they owe their life and future to the Home of Grace. They, along with 119 other men, are residents of the Christian-based organization's Men's Center in Vancleave and spend their days taking classes, attending daily devotional, and performing work chores. The educational topics include fundamentals of Christianity, additive lifestyles and behaviors, relationships and work and life skills training. They also meet several times a week with a counselor who places special attention on relapse prevention plans and building support networks during these sessions. Pitalo said he found himself addicted to oxycontin about five years ago while attending college at the University of Mississippi.
Empire State AIDS Ride Takes Way
The Empire State AIDS Ride started the second leg of its 560-mile journey in Rochester. Riders from across the country broke camp at Ontario Beach Park in Charlotte early Monday morning. They spent the night there after a 107-mile ride from Niagara Falls. Each rider raised a minimum of $3,500 to participate in the ride. "AIDS Rochester is the number one team this year and we raised $100,000," said AIDS Rochester executive director Paula Silvestrone. “We will probably get more than $100,000 back to the AIDS Rochester agency to help prevent AIDS, to also support people that have AIDS so that they can have a stable life and pay attention to their medications and live a longer, more quality life." Monday's leg took riders from Rochester to Sampson State Park near Geneva.
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