Thompson’s Narcotics Anonymous group is hoping to have a packed dance and plenty of campfire sing-alongs during its first-ever convention this weekend in Thompson and at Paint Lake.
The Aug. 14-16 Howling Wolves Convention will include a group camp-out at Paint Lake Provincial Park and an alcohol- and drug-free dance on Saturday night at the Manitoba Metis Federation building on Cree Road, says Clint, one of the organizers and a group member, whose last name is being withheld in accordance with the principles of the anonymous recovery group.
Thompson has had a Narcotics Anonymous group for more than 10 years, Clint says, with about five regular members for most of those years. Over the past few year, however, the number of meeting attendees has grown and a big meeting for the group, which gets together twice a week, is now about a dozen people. When you count all the people who come out sporadically or have only been out to a meeting or two, there’s probably 50 or 60 people who have been to meetings.
Narcotics Anonymous conventions are held to celebrate members’ recovery and have been held in prairie cities like Regina and Winnipeg for about 30 years. Thompson’s first convention will be a little different, though.
“Most conventions have speakers flown in usually,” says Clint, with the keynote speakers often having been part of Narcotics Anonymous for 30 years or more. “We’re not in a position to bring anybody in.”
That said, Clint hopes there will be some people from out of town at the event – Flin Flon and The Pas have Narcotics Anonymous groups that were established more recently than Thompson’s – and he is confident the local members can carry the organizing load.
“We’re going to try and be a bit more inclusive,” he says, noting that Thompson has many members with 10 years or more of sobriety who can get in front of the microiphone and share their stories and chair meetings during the convention. “We’ve got a lot of leaders. We feel we can pull it off.”
Attendees who can’t afford a hotel or would prefer to be in an outdoor group setting can camp at Paint Lake - $20 a person gives them admittance to the group campsite and the dance – and the dance is open to anyone with $5 who wants to dance in a sober environment. After Dark Productions is providing the music.
“Dances are big in Narcotics Anonymous,” says Clint, as they provide a place for recovering addicts to socialize with like-minded people, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. “They can be a lot of fun without drugs or without alcohol.”
The hope is to pack the hall and that can’t be done with recovering addicts alone.
The dance likely won’t be the only place with music, Clint says, since there are many musicians in Narcotics Anonymous and there’ll likely be some playing and singing at Paint Lake as well.
Clint says regular members at Narcotics Anonymous meetings in Thompson are generous with their donations to the collection place – “the members here put in bills” – and that the stories shared can be fairly powerful.
“There’s people in this community who have been through a lot of trauma,” he says. “There’s a reason why people turn to drugs to cope with life.”
Founded in 1953, Narcotics Anonymous helps participants recover from drug addiction through a 12-step program that includes regular attendance of meetings.
For more information on the dance or convention, call or text Clint at 204-939-1185.
