February 3, 2006 - "Rock, Roll(ing) and Other Drug Trends", Presenter: Pierrette Farber, M.P.S., Breakfast and Registration: 8:30 A.M. - 9:00 A.M., Workshop: 9:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M., Ulster RESTART Program @ B.O.C.E.S. Center for Alternative Education, Route 9W, Port Ewen; Contact: Pierrette Farber @ (845) 417-8236 or E- mail: PTFarber@aol.com with your NAME, PHONE NUMBER and AGENCY/SCHOOL
Snow date: the following Friday after the scheduled workshop

March 3, 2006 - "Engaging the Mandated Client in the Process of Change", Presenter: Debra Olsen, C.A.S.A.C., Breakfast and Registration: 8:30 A.M. - 9:00 A.M., Workshop: 9:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M., Ulster RESTART Program @ B.O.C.E.S. Center for Alternative Education, Route 9W, Port Ewen; Contact: Pierrette Farber @ (845) 417-8236 or E- mail: PTFarber@aol.com with your NAME, PHONE NUMBER and AGENCY/SCHOOL
Snow date: the following Friday after the scheduled workshop

March 31, 2006 - "Sex, Drugs and . . . Treatment!", Presenter: Brian Parrish, L.C.S.W., Breakfast and Registration: 8:30 A.M. - 9:00 A.M., Workshop: 9:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M., Ulster RESTART Program @ B.O.C.E.S. Center for Alternative Education, Route 9W, Port Ewen; Contact: Pierrette Farber @ (845) 417-8236 or E-mail: PTFarber@aol.com with your NAME, PHONE NUMBER and AGENCY/SCHOOL
Snow date: the following Friday after the scheduled workshop

Hudson Valley 2-1-1

Contributed by:
Bridgette Doxsee, Database Manager
United Way of Ulster County, Inc.

Dear Community Partner,

The United Way of Ulster County has partnered with Hudson Valley 211 to bring free, confidential, and multilingual information and referral to our communities. By dialing 211, any Ulster County resident will be connected to a call center and receive up-to-date information about the health and human service programs throughout the Hudson Valley. We are eager for our residents to begin taking advantage of this wonderful resource, so give 211 a try and let us know what you think.

We will be performing our annual database update in January to be sure everything is accurate. If there have been any changes to your agency in the recent months, please contact Bridget Doxsee, Database Manager, at (845) 331-4199 or email at bridgetdoxsee@yahoo.com. All changes to the database are immediate. Your agency profile can be updated throughout the year whenever changes take place. Be sure you pass along any changes as soon as they happen to ensure the best information is being disseminated to our residents.

Thank you,

Bridget Doxsee
bridgetdoxsee@yahoo.com
United Way of Ulster County, Inc.
450 Albany Ave
Kingston, NY 12401

Contributed by:
Heather Ohlson, Youth Action Coordinator
Reality Check of Dutchess and Ulster Counties

Did you know that tobacco shots in the top-ten grossing movies released from May 2002 to May 2003 were in youth-accessible and youth-marketed G, PG, and PG-13 films? Did you know that although actual smoking rates are nearly HALF what they were 50 years ago, the number of incidences per hour of smoking in movies in 2002 exceeded the number of incidences per hour in films from 1950?

Reality Check has been a strong voice calling for the removal of tobacco products and placement from G, PG, and PG-13 movies for a number of years. We have been partnered with the Smoke Free Movies Project (www.smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu ) for awhile and are happy to report that the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) has also joined forces with an already growing army of organizations addressing tobacco use in movies targeting a younger audience. Some other advocates include the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Medical Association, and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

Our requests for voluntary policy changes by the Motion Picture Association (MPAA) are simple:

1. No Tobacco in Youth Rated Films
No new film which is rated G, PG, or PG-13 should depict or imply any tobacco products, brand names of tobacco, or tobacco use

2. Certify No Pay-Offs
The producers should post a certificate in the credits at the end of the film declaring that no one involved with production of the movie received anything of value (cash, free cigarettes or other gifts, free publicity, interest free loans or any other item of value) from anyone in exchange for using or displaying tobacco in the movie

3. Require Strong Anti-tobacco Ads
Studios and theaters should require a genuinely strong anti-tobacco ad (not one produced by a tobacco company) to run before any film with any tobacco presence regardless of its MPAA rating

4. Stop Identifying Tobacco Brands
There should be neither tobacco brand identification nor the presence of tobacco brand imagery (such as billboards) in the background of any movie scene

This was our message when we sponsored the Woodstock Film Festival, and we are proud to say we will be very vocal this February 28th when we take part in the International Day of Action- when organizations all over the globe state we are no longer going to allow an industry to normalize or glamorize a product responsible for nearly 5,000,000 million deaths every year worldwide.

Through resolutions and proclamations state-wide, Reality Check is changing the landscape of how tobacco use is viewed among what Big Tobacco calls “replacement smokers.”

Young people are joining the movement to say they don’t buy the hype that tobacco makes them look cool, popular, or sexy. They also appreciate the fact that local agencies, community groups, law makers, and school boards are supporting Reality Check by signing resolutions.

If you would like to sign a postcard to the MPAA, be a part of the International Day of Action, want additional information on local REALITY CHECK activities, or if you are a NYS teen between the ages of 13 and 18 who wants to expose the manipulative practices of Big Tobacco, please call (845)220-7616 or drop email to: realitycheckdcuc@yahoo.com.

Heather Ohlson, Youth Action Coordinator
Reality Check Dutchess/Ulster
PO Box 1425
Kingston NY 12401 -or-
29 N. Hamilton St.
Poughkeepsie NY 12601
845-220-7616

JOIN Dutchess/Ulster REALITYCHECK online today!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RCDCUC/
NYS website: www.realitycheckny.com for addl info!

Winter Wonderland Workshops

Contributed by: Pierrette Farber, M.P.S.
Liberty Behavioral Management Corp.
Arms Acres, Conifer Park, Holliswood Hospital

Please, join us for the Winter Wonderland Workshops to be held at Ulster RESTART Program:

February 3: "Rock, Roll(ing) and Other Current Drug Trends"
Presenter: Pierrette Farber, M.P.S.

What drugs are hot on our streets, in our schools, in our backyards? In the ever evolving world of drugs, we must constantly try to keep up with what's being used, how, what the desired/short/long term effects are and what are they calling it these days. This workshop will provide you with the most up-to-date information of what's happing here in the Mid-Hudson region.

March 3: "Engaging the Mandated Client in the Process of Change"
Presenter: Debra Olsen, C.A.S.A.C.

Who is the mandated client? Expanding our definition allows us to explore more effective ways to engage clients. Utilizing a combination of Stages of Change and Motivational Interviewing techniques, Ms. Olsen will expand your capacity to help clients move from external to internal motivation and begin to truly engage in the process of change.

March 31: "Sex, Drugs and...Treatment!"
Presenter: Brian Parrish, L.C.S.W.

This skill oriented workshop will provide participants with information on how to use an integrated approach for treatment with clients with issues of sexual abuse, trauma, and/or sexual violence - along with treatment of substance abuse. Safety issues regarding working with this clientele will be addressed.

Workshops will be held at: B.O.C.E.S. Center for Alternative Education, Route 9W, Port Ewen. Time: Breakfast & Registration @ 8:30 A.M. Workshop runs 9:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.
Note: Snow dates will be for the following Friday of the scheduled workshop

To Register or for more information: Please, e-mail back NAME, PHONE NUMBER and AGENCY/SCHOOL, or call Pierrette Farber @ (845) 417-8236.
Important Note: Workshops are free, but seating is limited, so, please, register early.

Please, share this information with families and colleagues. Thank you.

Stacy Kraft
Public Health Education Coordinator
Ulster County Health Department

Stacy was born in Kingston and grew up in Wallkill, New York. She received her confirmation from the Shawangunk Reformed Church. At an early age, ballet became a major part of Stacy’s life. She attended Pine Bush High School, participating in modified, junior varsity and varsity cheerleading. At the end of her sophomore year, she moved to Philadelphia where she danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet Company. There she spent her junior year attending John J. Hallahan High. Stacy returned to Pine Bush High for her senior year and danced with the modern dance troop, In Forward Motion. She performed at Bard College and SUNY New Paltz, among other places. In 1996, Stacy graduated from Pine Bush High.

Stacy moved on to attend the State University at Cortland, New York. She began rescuing ferrets in 1999 and currently has a total of five. During her senior year, she did an Internship at Benedictine Hospital where she met her future husband, Joel. She graduated in 2000 with a B.S. in Health Science.

Stacy began teaching Ballet to children and young adults in Florida, New York and in January 2001, she began working for the Ulster County Health Department. Currently, she is the Public Health Education Coordinator for Ulster County. Stacy plays an active role within community coalitions, public relations, marketing, grant writing, program planning, and public education. She works with programs such as tobacco, asthma, Lyme disease, and heart health. Stacy is a leadership member of the Community Heart Health Coalition of Ulster County and an executive board member of T.F.A.C. (Tobacco Free Action Coalition), as well as a steering committee member for the Hudson Valley Asthma Coalition. She is also a fundraising committee member for PC.

Stacy was married to Joel in June of 2004 and then honeymooned in Hawaii, where the two explored coral reefs and lava tubes together. She currently enjoys practicing yoga, hiking, mountain biking, and snow boarding. Stacy assists her husband with a nature and landscape photography business, entitled Catskill Stills. She helps with marketing, editing, and web site design decisions. You can view the website online at catskillstills.com. Stacy is excited to begin building a house this spring in Marbletown.

We had a winner! Congratulations goes out to Colleen Mountford, Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ulster County, for guessing that Stacy Kraft was our Mystery Member. Colleen won a pair of movie theatre tickets and has generously decided to donate them to one of the "Bigs" and their little brother or sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ulster County Program.

Thank you, Stacy, for being our second Mystery Member. By sharing some information about her past and allowing us to use her photograph, we hope that other members of the coalition will be able to now put Stacy's face with her name and understand a little more about who she is and what she does.

In each newsletter, we will have an educational, fun and interactive way to learn about a particular Prevention Connections' member. This individual/member will be known as our "Mystery Member." She/He will submit five "little-known facts" to be listed in the newsletter. The first person to call Prevention Connections, (845) 338-0338 (feel free to leave a voicemail, since it will be time-stamped), with the name of the correct individual/member will win a modest prize. Then, in the next publication of the newsletter, we will feature a short article about the "Mystery Member," giving their name, title, and a little about the work he/she does. We would also like to take a picture of the individual to put in the newletter with the article. This seemed like a unique way for people to learn about their fellow coalition members and to be able to put a face with their name.

Here are the "little-known facts" for our third "Mystery Member." The prize give- away for the first person to call with the correct coalition member's name will be a pair of movie theatre tickets. Good luck to each of you!

1. I came to be in 1972, am third generation and have lived in Ulster County all of my life.


2. I welcome visitors seven days a week, throughout the year, except for a few holidays or if I am on vacation.


3. Everyone always raves about how good I smell.


4. Women, in particular, tend to love me!


5. I believe in my work and am known for the fine quality product I produce.

Who am I?

Prevention Connections has ordered books, through the U.S. Department of Education, for parents interested in working to keep kids drug-free. The book, "Growing Up Drug-Free: A Parent's Guide to Prevention", is currently only available in English. We are hoping to be able to acquire some copies in Spanish within the next few months. If you are interested in obtaining a copy in Spanish, please, contact us, so we can be sure to get a copy to you and make sure we order enough to go around to everyone who would like them. (Our contact information is listed below).

Parents, do you have teenagers at home? Here is an anti-drug site worth sharing with them: Freevibe.com @ http://www.freevibe.com. It has a lot of information, as well as interactive areas for your teen to participate in online surveys, quizzes, message boards and a place to tell their own stories. Take a look and see what you think.

Betsy found a great website for parents. It is called, "Community of Concern". The site is loaded with information and contains interactive "courses" for parents that keep learning fun and interesting. To visit the website, just click on the "Community of Concern" link, below.

Remember that this is intended to be your newsletter, so we welcome and look forward to your submissions, feedback and comments. The newsletter is your place to share information with coalition members and the Ulster County community at large. Thank you to all who have contributed articles and information.

The next newsletter will be published on March 8, 2006. All submissions for that publication must be in by February 21, 2006. Try to keep articles about three paragraphs, or less, and understand that they may need to be edited.

Submissions may be made in the following ways:

E-mail: magsy@hvc.rr.com (Diane) or bsinsapaugh@familyservicesny.org (Betsy)

Fax: (845) 338-0147

Mail: Betsy Sinsapaugh or Diane Mueller, Prevention Connections, A Program of Family Services, Inc., 95 Grand Street, Kingston, NY 12401