MANCHESTER, NH — About 900 folks celebrated recovery from drugs and alcohol at Hope For New Hampshire Recovery’s Sixth Annual Rally4Recovery Saturday at Veterans Park in Manchester.
Running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Rally4Recovery included live music, talks, face painting and representatives from dozens of community organizations. Given the beautiful weather and largest number of sponsors ever, the crowd seemed ready to celebrate lives rescued from the slough and despair of addiction.
Beginning with the Tutu Brigade, a mixed-gender group of folks dressed in hula skirts and tutus dancing to Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration,” the day was filled with odd joy and joyous oddities.
Performing original and cover songs were The Hope Ensemble, Scott Plante, Andy Ryan, Edmund Lowe and Mike Kostoulakos, and others. Many of these musicians will perform at the Second Anniversary of the Sicker than Most Show next Saturday evening at Hope. This event will include a “Thicker than Most” competition.
Speakers at the rally included Adam Scalingi, Russ Ouellette, Jason Schnook and Keith Howard.
Howard spoke of Hope being not a program but a vision, declaring “Programs follow; vision leads. Programs react; vision acts. Programs search for something bad and try to eliminate it. Vision identifies the good and tries to bring it to life . . . Hope is the good.”
Sponsored by New England Addiction Technology Transfer Center, Tufts Freedom Health Plan, AutoFair and many other community partners, the Rally4Recovery-NH was an opportunity to be inspired, learn, be entertained and celebrate transformation.
