If the blaring move-the-bod music and handful of colorful tents didn’t send the message, the sight of a couple of guys in pink tutus certainly kept things loose at the 8th Annual Bridge House Pig Roast in Waukegan last weekend.
The party was put on by the alumni of Bridge House, a co-ed residential treatment facility on the Lake County Health Department campus operated by the Northern Illinois Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. The event, which raised more than $4,000, is a way for former residents to raise money to buy items needed at Bridge House.
But the seriousness of the cause should not stop people from coming together for some fun and fellowship, according to counselor Ron Sullivan, who annually gets gussied up in tutu and pig ears “just as a gag” with counselor Jim Feret.
“It’s time to have fun. The alumni and residents at Bridge House do a lot of work for this. But the `day of’ should not be so serious because the addiction itself is so traumatic and draining, a lot of people forget how to have fun,” Sullivan said.
No argument from Waukegan alumnus Abe Davis, who was chatting with former residents Craig Eddy of Waukegan and Earl Hucker Jr. of Wauconda. When asked why he came, Davis said, “Just for a good time.”
Eddy added, “I come for the fellowship.”
They also do not forget their common ties.
“Bridge House helped me find myself; who I am, what is important to me. When I come back, it helps serve as a reminder of where I’ve been,” Hucker said.
Erin Leighton of Wheeling, a “classmate” of Eddy and Hucker during the summer of 1996, joined in.
“For me, it’s coming back to the place that helped straighten out my life,” Leighton said.
