Woman’s Voice: The Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition is a diverse group of dedicated community members united around the goal of reducing substance use in Lenawee County. LSAPC members work collaboratively to engage and educate the community in order to promote a healthy Lenawee.
Kathy Williams: This is Kathy Williams and with me on tonight’s program is Madeline DeMarco. She is the coalition coordinator for the LSAPC, along with being the Community Outreach and Prevention Coordinator for Lenawee Community Mental Health Authority. Madeline, we’re going to talk about sober summer.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes, the weather is getting nicer, and that means that many of us are looking forward to all those outdoor gatherings and events with family and friends. And it’s really easy for us to get caught up in, you know, which beer or the seltzer flavors in the cooler. But not everybody drinks alcohol. In fact, nearly one in three adults in the United States don’t drink any alcohol at all. And so we’re here to talk about some ways that you can have fun this summer and help support the folks in your life that that don’t drink at the same time.
Kathy Williams: Yeah, because some some it’s a medical decision and some it’s a psychological decision. But whatever their decision, you want to be supportive.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes, and that’s a great point. There’s a lot of reasons why someone might choose not to drink from, you know, whether they’re they might be pregnant, a history with substance use. And so it’s important that we respect that person’s choice not to drink and we don’t pressure anybody to be drinking if they don’t want to. And we also don’t ask why they’re not drinking.
Kathy Williams: Exactly.
Madeline DeMarco: No one wants to be the person to ruin a pregnancy announcement for somebody. Right?
Kathy Williams: Yes.
Madeline DeMarco: It’s up to that person to choose if they want to share their story or not.
Kathy Williams: It is. And so just by having all those options available, then let them take care of themselves is the way I look at it.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes.
Kathy Williams: So you’re right, though, with the warmer weather, we do tend to be outside more. And for some, I’m sure there’s a tick up in especially probably beer and cold beverage consumption. So. So how can we help? You said, of course, provide non-alcoholic drinks, but there’s a lot of great little mock-up cocktails that you can have available, things like that.
Madeline DeMarco: Yeah, it doesn’t have to be just, you know, a juice box or a bottle of coke that that we’re all used to seeing. There’s a lot of companies that are now selling bottled or canned mocktails that are way, go way beyond that standard bottle of pop. And you can also kind of class up some of those more traditional non-alcoholic drinks as well: providing fun, glassware or garnishes. You can add some sparkling water to give it a little bubbliness. There’s a lot of options.
Kathy Williams: Any kind of fruit.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes. Yup. And it’s better for for even the folks that do drink as well, because drinking alcohol can actually dehydrate you, especially in that hot weather.
Kathy Williams: Right.
Madeline DeMarco: So when you’re on the lake, you want to make sure that even if you are choosing to partake, that you’re kind of alternating your alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
Kathy Williams: And I also I like the idea of if you keep both your hands busy so, you know, by playing games like Frisbee and, you know, doing tubing, things like that cornhole, you have to have a little bit of a level of concentration. And hopefully both your hands are busy so you don’t have time to pick up that drink all the time.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes. And it’s more than just drinking games that we can be playing, too. That’s kind of also what we want to be emphasizing is making the event so it’s not focused on alcohol. So we’re providing, you know, not just flip cup, but Frisbee and Cornhole and these other games that anybody, any age, whatever they’re choosing to drink that day, can can partake in.
Kathy Williams: Exactly. You know, I think a lot of people may not even realize that, but when they look at their friends, they might realize they have a lot of friends that don’t drink.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes, exactly. Like we said, one in three adults in the United States don’t drink alcohol at all. So if you just look around you at your family gathering, statistically, there’s going to be quite a few people that are choosing not to drink that day for whatever reason.
Kathy Williams: So offer lots of snacks.
Madeline DeMarco: That’s what I’m there for, the s’mores, right!
Kathy Williams: Chips and the dips and a lot of fruit I’ve noticed at early parties already this season.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes. And that’s great because that’s a good hydrating snack as well. So even for folks that are drinking, we talked about alcohol can be dehydrating, offering things like watermelon or some bell peppers, things like that are great at being hydrating for folks. And if you’re you’re hosting your own event as well, that’s another great way to give you a little bit more control over the situation. So maybe if you don’t drink and you’re worried about having options available for you at someone else’s house, if you host the gathering at your house, you set the menu, you set the activities so you get a little more control that way too.
Kathy Williams: Exactly. You know what other good suggestion I have is have a cooler that has water in it for the bottled water, but have one of those markers beside it so they can label their bottle. Because how many times do you find all these have drinking water bottles and nobody knows which one was there?
Madeline DeMarco: Yes!
Kathy Williams: I just think that that marker might come in handy for lots of reasons.
Madeline DeMarco: Absolutely. And with COVID, you don’t want to be accidentally drinking someone’s water.
Kathy Williams: Let’s just help everybody out with this. Great event coming up, though, the Right for Recovery is a fundraiser. That’s coming up. Tell us about that, Madeline.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes. So this is an upcoming fundraiser that’s sponsored by Celebrate Recovery Tecumseh and Broken Chains. J.C. and all the proceeds from this event are going to go to Pathways Recovery Engagement Center in Adrian. And so this is going to be a fundraiser, motorcycle ride. It’s going to be held on June 26. It will start at the Harley Davidson of Tecumseh and registration will begin at 10:00 a.m. It’s ten dollars per person. Again, all proceeds are going to go to Pathways Recovery Engagement Center. At registration there’ll be donuts, coffee, water available and then kick stands up at 11:00 a.m. to start the ride. The ride’s going to end at the Covenant Church in Tecumseh and hot dogs and chips will be available at the end of the ride. So you can even have your family come and meet you at the end if you want.
Kathy Williams: Oh how fun. Okay.
Madeline DeMarco: Yeah, and if you’re interested for more information, you can call 517-815-4011 or you can email crtecumseh@gmail.com.
Kathy Williams: There you go. A great event. And, you know, there’s a lot of riders, especially in the summer, and a lot of them have the belief of you do not drink and ride a motorcycle. It just does not go well together. So other great activities, of course, they can, you know, just get outside, go to farmer’s markets, go get ice cream, you know, have a game night. That kind of thing, I think are all great ideas too. So, Madeline, you can also find information on the LSAPC sites.
Madeline DeMarco: Yes. We have a website. You can reach us at DrugPreventionLenawee.com. And we also have a pretty active Facebook page. You can find us @LenaweeVsAddiction, Lenawee V S Addition, on Facebook as well.
Kathy Williams: Thanks so much, Madeline. For some more information on a sober summer.
Madeline DeMarco: So thank you for having me.
Woman’s Voice: Thank you for listening. This information has been provided by the Lenawee Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. New messages air on the first and third Monday of each month at 6:15 p.m. You can listen to this program as a podcast under the audio tab on WLEN.com and listen and gather more information at DrugPreventionLenawee.com.
