Campaign for sobriety growing yearly

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Some might call it the little campaign that grew.

Hundreds of communities across Canada celebrated National Addictions Awareness Week with dances, talent shows, powwows and open houses.

The five-year-old campaign has grown in leaps and bounds since 1987, when

a handful of communities agreed to set aside the third week in November for activities promoting a sober lifestyle.

"It has flourished. A lot of communities have joined in," says Louise Mayo, a spokesman for Edmonton's Nechi Institute who has been involved in the annual event since its inception.

"When we first started we had 85 communities involved. The next year we had 405. Last year there was over 1,000. The participation has really grown."

Organizers expect this year's festivities will attract more than 1,000 communities again, but the final figures will not be known until after the weeks' reports are submitted.

The campaign - based around the theme Keep your Spirit Free - kicked off in several major centres with high-profile events.

In Edmonton, almost 2,000 people joined in the annual Sober Walk parade through the downtown streets, ending in a rally outside the provincial legislature. More than 300 Regina high school students marked the start of the week with speeches and traditional dances at Scott Collegiate.

In smaller communities, local organizers arranged mall displays, group discussions, tours of recovery facilities as well as family dances, potlatches and skit nights.

"I think the impact has become more national," says Glenn Allan of the Saskatchewan Alcohol and Drug Awareness Committee in North Battleford.

"The Native programs have really become more effective. Going back seven

years they didn't have the resources."

Drug and alcohol workers appear to agree the campaign's rapid growth and continuing success is firmly rooted in its focus on community planning. Activities are planned at the grassroots level by local organizations that are free to pick themes and activities relevant to their specific areas.

In some cases, specific communities have reached out to colorful celebrities to drive home their sober messages. In 1991, the High Arctic community of Hall Beach enlisted wrestling star Hulk Hogan in their local campaign. The U.S. athlete responded

by donating T-shirts and other materials to the community campaign.

"This isn't a canned program," says Mark Strople, a manager with the Saskatchewan alcohol and drug committee's provincial offices in Regina. "It's a strategy that is broad enough for communities to interpret in their own way...A lot of communities are taking over their involvement. Each community is addressing the issue as they see fit."

National Addictions Awareness Week was developed in 1987 in response to provincial awareness campaigns that many first nations workers felt ignored the Native side of the problem. The success of the first celebration prompted then- federal Health Minister Jake Epp to declare the week a national event.

Since then, participation has sky-rocked, says Mayo, adding that many community groups, including schools, local police and friendship centres, take an active role in planning activities.