"When they came out, they had tears in their eyes," said Angela Berger, who organized the event.
Fortunately, no one had to die.
The tears were shed at a simulated funeral last month as part of the initial Lawrence County presentation of the Reality Tour, which will be coming to Ellwood City from 6 to 9 p.m. March 2 at the Municipal Building.
The Reality Tour, developed in 2003 by Butler County entrepreneur Norma Norris, takes its audience through the downward spiral of drug addiction, from peer pressure to drug experimentation, to arrest to eventual overdose death.
Berger, a 2000 Lincoln High School graduate who is organizing the Reality Tour in Lawrence County, will hold informational meetings at 6:30 p.m. today and Feb. 23 in Ellwood City Council Chambers at the Municipal Building.
About 60 people
viewed the Reality Tour last month in New Castle, and the next
presentation, scheduled for March 30, is nearly completely booked,
said Berger.
She said the Lawrence County premiere had an
effect on the New Castle audience.
"They actually saw the
jail and it really scared them."
There are still spaces
available for the Ellwood City Reality Tour, even though Berger
believes there is growing concern over possible expansion of drug
trafficking in the area. She hopes that the upcoming presentation
will be a wake-up call for its audience.
"A lot of times,
kids and parents don't realize that it is a problem," said Berger.
She hopes a talk by a borough police officer during the
Reality Tour event will drive home the point that drugs are a threat
in small-town America, including Ellwood City.
The Reality
Tour will feature dramatic presentations of arrests - including use
of the police holding cells in the Municipal Building - and medical
emergencies, with personnel from Medevac ambulance service working
on a simulated overdose victim.
Marshall's Funeral Home
personnel will participate in the Reality Tour's powerful finale,
the simulated drug abuse victim's "funeral."
Additional
Reality Tour presentations are scheduled for April 3 in Ellwood City
and April 27 in New Castle.
In the long term, Berger, a
graduate of Gannon University who is studying French Education and
addiction counseling, says she plans to use the Reality Tour to
focus on elementary school students.
She aims to have entire
classes, and the students' parents in audiences for future
performances.
"It really makes an impact on the child with
their entire social circle present," Berger
said.
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Pre-registration is required for the March 2
Reality Tour presentation. To reserve a space in the Ellwood City
Reality Tour or to volunteer with the presentation, contact Berger
by phone at 724-831-8234, or attend either of the informational
meetings.
Ellwood City Area Public Library also has
pre-registration forms available. A $5 donation is requested for
Reality Tour attendance.
