NewCanaanite.com recently received the following letter to the editor. Send letters to editor@newcanaanite.com to have them published here.
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8th Annual Community Addiction Awareness Vigil
Credit: Christine Simmons
Dear Editor:
On behalf of the New Canaan Parent Support Group and our co-Host New Canaan Community Foundation, I’d like to thank all those who made our August 29th Community Addiction Awareness Vigil a success.
We had 500 people in attendance, on a beautiful evening at the corner of South Avenue and Elm Street. Our goal was to show through heartfelt testimonials that recovery from addiction is possible, and we believe we succeeded with our recovery speaker line-up of Aidan C., Cini Shaw and Ben Tuff.
Our conviction grows each year in the Power of Story, that each time a recovery story is shared, at least one life is saved. With the Vigil, we’ve reached the 100 lives saved level based on the 100 testimonials we’ve hosted at our Vigils and other forums.
I want to thank our Emcee John Hamilton (back for the 8th year); our local clergy participants led by Pastor Chapin Garner and Minister Cheryl Bundy; Scott Troyer and his band the Honey Blades; the Pivot Ministries Choir; and NCHS Ram Council’s Gray Handler for leading us in the event-ending Community Pledge.
Kudos go to our event committee that I affectionately call Team Orange: Ava, Colleen, Cyra, Eric, Francesca, Jacqueline, John, Jude, Leo, Liza, Meg, Rich, Robert, Susannah, and Tracy. You are the best!
We could not have successfully pulled off this event without the following partners: the Town of New Canaan (Administrative Officer Tucker Murphy–and Tiger Mann and Mose Saccary of Public Works); NCFD’s Mike Socci; NCPD’s Nicole Vartulli; Silver Hill Hospital’s Andrew Gerber; The Lighthouse Sober Living’s Trey Laird, Team Liberation and the Wellness Van, NCHS Ram Council, NCHS SLOBs (especially the Santiago brothers Tyler and Zach) and Cain Management dba Dunkin Donuts.
Our generous Sponsors made our 8th Annual Vigil financially possible, namely: Caron Treatment Centers, Center for Motivation & Change; High Watch Recovery, Lakeview Health, Mountainside, New Canaan CARES, Paramount Wellness Retreat, Release Recovery, Silver Hill Hospital, The Lighthouse CT, Town of New Canaan Human Services, Turnbridge, Walter Stewart’s Market, Wellbridge and several anonymous donors with big hearts.
Please mark your calendars for our 2025 New Canaan Vigil: Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
With appreciation to all,
Paul Reinhardt
Founder, New Canaan Parent Support Group