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A Message of Thanks from the 2004
Congress Organizing Committee
The 2004 Congress Organizing
Committee owes thanks to a great many individuals who helped
make this event the best LifeRing Congress ever. Here we would
like to acknowledge their contributions:
Our guest speakers, William
White of Chestnut Health Systems of Bloomington IL,
Alison Aubrejuan Esq. of Disability Rights
Advocates in Oakland, Marcia Leonard L.C.S.W. of
Kaiser Chemical Dependency Recovery Program in Vallejo,
and Albert Dytch M.F.T. of Oakland, enriched our
community with their professional expertise. We especially
appreciate the fact that William White traveled all the way from
Florida despite a family medical crisis, and took a lively
interest in our convenor workshops. We hope that all of our
guest speakers took a positive impression of LifeRing back with
them to their own communities and institutions.
We are again indebted to
Michiko Murillo, the Facilities Coordinator of Alta Bates
Hospitals, and to Diane Fishbach of Environmental
Services at Herrick Campus, for permitting us to use the
conference facilities and for placing their equipment and staff
at our disposition.
We owe thanks to Gary Dunlap,
Executive Director of CAADAC, the California Association
of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselors in Sacramento, for making
the organization's mailing list available to us in advance of
the Congress, and for again certifying LifeRing as a provider of
Continuing Education units for the event. We are likewise
grateful to the Board of Behavioral Sciences for its CE
Unit certification. For connecting and negotiating with these
individuals and institutions, we are very much indebted to
Marylou Beban.
To Royal Coffee Co. of
Oakland and to Mark P. Fisher we are indebted for
donations of coffee making equipment complete with fresh ground
coffee, fresh brewed coffee, and all the accoutrements.
To Jeannie Villareal of
the Recovering Advocates for Treatment organization in
Vallejo for a supply of William White's Slaying the Dragon
books and for moral support.
We thank the management and
performers of the Bay Area Blues Society for their
musical entertainment on Saturday evening, and the managers and
staff of Hs. Lordships restaurant for their professional
services. We are grateful to Kathy Hammond, guest
bassoonist in the string trio on Friday evening.
The staff members of Kwik Kopy
and of Pro Copy and Print in Oakland deserve our thanks
for accommodating our requests for expedited production and
special orders.
But most of all we owe thanks to
all the LifeRing volunteers who gave their time, talents, and
other resources, beginning months before the event. In
particular, we need to acknowledge:
- Jack P., Jill T.,
Jason K., Bill S., Andrew F., and the
other convenors who prepared and spoke at the two convenor
workshops on Saturday morning.
- Sharon B., for help
with mailings, with the registration packet, and for helping
to staff the LifeRing Press book table.
- Laura H., for her work on the
Media Committee, with mailings, and the book table.
- Ted N., flautist in the string
trio on Friday evening, and for general help and support
before and during the event.
- Jill T., who arrived from
Australia and immediately went to work assembling the packet,
staffing the registration table, and being an all-round
helper.
- Jason K. who helped with packet
stuffing
- Deanna H., who helped with the
registration table and the book table, and did the
introduction for guest speaker Marcia Leonard.
- Tom C., who substituted for
Katie as convenor of the Friday night meeting and did a very
good job with a large crowd.
- Bill C., who operated the video
camera throughout Saturday.
- Andree G., who helped staff the
tables and donated flowers from her garden to decorate the
stage for Friday evening.
- Bill S. and Kelly C., who
took still pictures with their digital cameras.
- Syl S., who helped with mailings
and at the registration table.
- Matt R., who worked on the
mailings and the registration table and was a general help.
- Andrew F, who helped with
mailings and lent a supportive hand wherever needed at the
event.
- Itchy B., who tried to pick up
Jacquie from the Oakland airport on Friday.
- Jacquie J., who escorted guest
speaker Bill White from the program to the banquet.
And many others who helped with program
ideas, arrangements, finances, transportation, supplies, and any
of the thousand other details that went into making this
Congress a success. Not least, to all the LifeRing members
and guests who came from three continents to participate in
this gathering. It has been a privilege working with all of you
and serving as members of the Organizing Committee this year.
-- Katie F., Gillian E.,
Chet G., Marty N. |
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Friday evening March 26
