Summer Break — The Friday afternoon meeting in East Haven will be on hiatus for five weeks starting June 30, 2017. We will return Friday, August 4th. Hope to see you on June 16 and June 23 at Hagaman Memorial Library in the Demayo Room starting at 1:15 PM (approx.).
Posts
A visit to the new Thursday night meeting in Hartford
A new meeting on Thursday nights in Hartford started in mid-May, and Carol and I went up to say hello last Thursday. It’s in the Mt. Sinai rehabilitation hospital at 500 Blue Hills Avenue in the north end of Hartford. There’s free parking in the visitor lot across Blue Hills Avenue from the hospital, and a crosswalk to get to the main entrance. The security desk can direct you to the meeting. It will probably be downstairs in Pulmonary Conference Room A. This was a little hard to find as there were notices taped up over room names. There was a busy civic association meeting going on in the main auditorium just down the hall.
We had a very nice, brightly lit, private room, and a motivated meeting host. Thanks to the hospital for providing the space. We should see the meeting grow as we get the word out.
There’s also a Tuesday night meeting at CCAR.
New facilitator for Wednesday night meetings
Mark just joined the facilitator team and will be taking over the Wednesday night meetings at the Grove in New Haven.
No Saturday Morning Meeting on Memorial Day Weekend
The Wilson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library will be closed on Saturday, May 27, 2017 to mark Memorial Day. We therefore will be unable to hold our regular Saturday morning meeting that day. Enjoy the weekend!
Spot the SMART Recovery mile marker at Walk the Walk for Recovery
TriCircle, Inc., a new treatment program, will be holding its first “Walk the Walk for Recovery” at Community Lake Park, 291 Avenue, Wallingford, CT 06 from 9 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, May 6, 2017. (Rain date is Saturday, May 13.)
SMART Recovery will have a mile marker during the walk.
Walker registration costs $10. If you raise $25 in donations you’ll receive a free t-shirt. More information at https://www.tricircleinc.com/2017WalktheWalkforRecovery.en.html
Choice in Recovery – Overview of Alternative Treatment Options
The video on Choice in Recovery’s web site provides a brief overview of several alternative support groups, including SMART Recovery: http://choiceinrecovery.net/
Many of these programs are also listed in SMART Recovery’s EAP flyer.
Annual DEA National Take-Back Initiative coming up on April 29
The annual DEA National Take-Back Initiative will happen from 10 AM to 2 PM on Saturday, April 29.
You can find more information and a link to search for a local collection site at https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/index.html. Many local police departments participate.
A recent paper (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161115111659.htm) found that collections such as this don’t do much to reduce the availability of diverted prescription drugs, probably because of low participation, so encourage your friends and family to clean out their medicine cabinets. Interestingly, these collections do act as an effective way of recycling over-the-counter medication.
If you want to run your own collection in Connecticut, you’ll need a one-day hazardous waste disposal permit (http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2718&q=437868
http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=1620&q=438170).
SMART Recovery Reading List
I mentioned at today’s meeting that I’d had trouble finding the recommended reading list on the SMART Recovery web site. It’s at http://www.smartrecovery.org/resources/readlist.htm
Some of the authors have been guests at the (more or less) monthly webinars SMART Recovery holds.
Local mindfulness course starts on March 8
One of our attendees took this course when it ran before and recommends it: “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” with Beth Robins Roth at the Fresh Yoga Erector Square studio in New Haven. The course runs from March 8 to April 26. Full details, including the dates, cost and the instructor’s qualifications are at http://freshyoga.com/workshops_mbsr
First snow cancellation of the season
We decided to cancel our Saturday morning meeting at the Wilson Branch Library as it looks dangerous for the facilitators to try to drive to the library. We expect that most of the attendees will have more sense than to try to get to the meeting anyway, and there’s a chance that the New Haven Free Public Library system will decide to open late.
The library will be closed for the next two Saturdays, so the next Saturday morning meeting will be on January 7. The Hagaman Public Library in East Haven will also be closing for the holidays, so our Friday morning meetings on 12/23 and 12/30 are cancelled. Our other four weekly meetings in the New Haven area will be operating as usual.