Getting the Word Out at the Women's Wellness Fair

I attended the Women's Wellness Fair in Ocean City, New Jersey on Oct 27, 2000 with Will P. and Rosalie S. 

We were contacted by Cape Assist (an organization that educates the public on drugs and alcohol) in Sept. about setting up a table at their fair. Rosalie sent letters and pamphlets to many treatment agencies and to date they are the only ones that responded, so we jumped at the chance to participate. Will offered to wear a blond wig and a dress, but there was no need since a couple of other men attended. 

We were supposed to have our table set up by 8:30 am. Rosalie was the first to show up, I was 15 minutes late and Will followed shortly afterwards. We each paid $20 which covered our lunch which consisted of salad, chicken & potatoes, dessert and coffee. I must admit that I was a little embarrassed by our table. There were about 16 organizations in all and we were one of only a few that didn't have a back-drop. Most of the organizations had their names, some information and a couple of pictures on their back-drops. 

The table next to us was all about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and they even had a bowl of bite-sized Snicker's bars. All I can say is at least we were there getting the word out about LifeRing. I'm already planning a trip to Staples to get the board for our next fair and trying to figure out a healthy treat I can offer. I'm also thinking of buying LifeRing magnets for a give away if I can find them and if they are cheap. It shouldn't be an impossible feat since I live in a shore area. 

They were expecting 100 people, I don't know if they got that many but probably close to it. I set up our table with 20 each of the 4 pamphlets, some flyers, and a copy each of Keepers, Presenting LifeRing to Treatment Professionals and the Blue Book (my name for the LSR book). We weren't manning the table at all times, we were busy chowing down on bagels and orange juice and therefore lost our copy of Keepers. Will got back in time to rescue the Blue Book twice. We weren't allowed to sell anything there so I guess people assumed the books were free. 

We weren't in the door 15 minutes when they asked us to come in the room where they were holding some of the workshops and introduce ourselves. Thank goodness we drug Will along! Neither Rosalie or I feel comfortable speaking to a crowd. Will is a teacher and more accustomed to the task. He did a 3 minute commercial for LifeRing and did a fine job. 

I was listening to him but was also watching the reaction of the women I noticed from AA. They appeared dumb-founded to me and I saw that one of them did not clap when Will was finished. Another AA woman came up to our table afterwards and asked some questions. She kept repeating that " all this was new to her". She was very pleasant and seemed sincerely interested. I spoke with a lady that I know from a women's meeting that I used to attend. She said it (LSR) was great if it worked for me, smirked a little when I answered her question about whether LSR was spiritual, and then asked me if I was still sober. I assured her that I was and that I was quite happy. 

The rest of the day consisted of workshops on women & children's issues. I missed the first set of workshops because Will and I met with Ed Olwell who seems to be the big boss at the Cape Counseling Treatment Center. We have talked with him a few times on the phone but never had the pleasure of meeting. I gave him a copy of Presenting LSR still in it's wrapper and hot off the presses. We should be meeting with his staff shortly to answer their questions about our group. 

Ed said he didn't want his staff split about LSR. If they are going to refer their patients to us he wants all the counselors to be in agreement. Will asked how many of his staff had been addicted (and mostly likely through the 12-step process) and Ed answered 50%. I think we may have our work cut out for us! Ed also said that surprisingly most of the counselors were open to LSR but that one had said we could make the group our higher power. Will told him that he didn't want to get into a theology discussion but we couldn't do steps 3 thru 12 with the group as our higher power. Ed laughed and agreed. 

I offered to come to the treatment center and lead a group in a meeting after we met with his staff and he agreed that would be the 2nd step. I don't know what came over me, I'm a fairly shy person, but it seemed to be the thing to say. Actually....I must have been offering Will to lead the group! 

I also showed Ed the workbook I had printed out. At first he looked impressed that we had one, but after reading only the table of contents he thought it was "too much". I assume he thought it would be too much for some of the people he deals with in early recovery. I think he may be under estimating his clients and I will bring the workbook along to our meeting and have him take another look. 

We ended our discussion by talking about the possibility of adding a 3rd meeting in the Wildwood area. There are a lot of poor, addicted people in that area and I guess there is a large percentage without transportation. I don't know if there are many people there that are dissatisfied with AA, but I believe that we will be getting people that have never set foot in an AA meeting because we have the advantage of advertisement and soon treatment professionals will be offering the alternative. 

The rest of day was uneventful. I attended the workshop on building your child's emotional assets, ate a nice lunch with Will and didn't stick around for the Inspirational Stories which was the only thing scheduled for the afternoon. I figured it would be AA women sharing their message, and since I had heard it all before and had a headache from the cheesecake I shouldn't have eaten I bolted. 

I'm sure other people took our literature since some was missing but I didn't see them. I also had copies of "How Our Support Groups Work" and "If this is Day One" that I had printed off of unhooked. They disappeared. I'm looking forward to our next event and am keeping a look-out for places to be seen and heard. Oh...I almost forgot....the Hotel Flanders was beautiful and we could see the ocean from where we sat. We could also see King Kong, but I won't bore y'all with that.

Peace, Kathleen O.

10/30/00