Grapevine Center Recovery Fest is all smiles
Grapevine Center’s Recovery Fest was all smiles Saturday, July 8, as Rich Blues, peer support service program manager, walked the event ringing a little blue bell.
“I’m walking around with this bell that says ‘ring for a smile,’ so I’m ringing the bell to get people to smile a little bit,” Blues said. “You’d be amazed that just ringing a bell makes them smile.”
The festival invited those in mental-health recovery to a care-free day of food, games and fun, according to Blues.
“Recovery fest was started by my predecessor, he and his wife came up with this idea just to give folks that are in recovery a break from services,” Blues said. “It’s a day to just kind of forget about it and just have fun and kind of wind down from services — but still be engaged in the community.”
Blues said days for those in recovery often are packed with appointments and rehabilitation, making the summer festival a welcome relief.
“They’re doing nothing but going to treatment, and doing treatment-related activities,” he said. “This day is just a day to have fun, to grab a prop from the photo booth and, you know, put on that funky mustache ... or whether it’s just getting a snow cone and sitting on the steps and enjoying the sunshine and breathing for a minute.”
The event featured live music by Washboard Tony and Rockin’ Rob, a summer cookout, Bingo, cornhole and a variety of activities.
“We try to do a different theme every year, and this year it’s ‘Back to the ’90’s,’” Blues said. “We have a little photo booth out here ... the Butler (County Community Support Program) is here doing alcohol ink art — it’s really cool and they use straws to blow the art around and make these little designs.”
The ’90s theme pervaded the event, with Nickelodeon “Gak” signs printed on buckets, neon event shirts and a bowl of “inspirational” Doritos.
“We have this little table up here, and I’ve printed out some Doritos and they’re called ‘inspirational Doritos,’” Blues said. “So the goal was to write a positive message to someone that they may need to see and overfill the bowl.”
Blues said the event has run each summer for several years, with this being “the first time in a while that they’ve done it on a Saturday,” allowing more people to attend.
“And other counties’ (community support programs) have picked up on it, or different agencies that maybe wanted to kind of do it have copied off of us to do it,” he said. “It’s been pretty nice to see that, and it really gets their people active and motivated.”
Butler resident Stacy Wolfe said the event and the center helped her de-stress.
“I like being out with people and the games and stuff — bingo and winning prizes,” Wolfe said. “And I know the drummer over there; I know him from church.”
Wolfe was visiting the event with her emotional support dog, Kodiak.
“My doctor wrote a letter for him and said that he would help with my diagnosis, which is PTSD and bipolar,” she said.
Wolfe said the night before the event she actually met with executive director Bette Peoples after an overwhelming evening.
“She is a good person to relieve your stress,” Wolfe said. “She always is there for me, and I think she’s a good person.”
Peoples said the event was a great place for people to socialize and feel accepted in the community.
“It helps break this stigma and shows that recovery is possible — I mean, look, you can see it everywhere,” she said. “Some people are struggling more than others, but if you see somebody who’s doing well, then there’s hope for other people, and it draws awareness to mental health.”
According to Peoples, the center regularly plans community events for those in recovery, including an upcoming camping trip at Moraine State Park.
“The more the community knows about mental health and helps break down the stigma, the more people can get help who need help,” Peoples said. “People here, who have a mental illness, they want what everybody else wants — they want a job, a family — you know, they’re just like everybody.”
Blues agreed that Recovery Fest — and all of the center’s events — are founded on raising that awareness in the county.
“Our objective down here at Grapevine is to help folks understand that recovery is real and it’s for everybody, and everybody can obtain it,” Blues said. “That’s what we try to push through every event, for everything that we do.”
