COMMUNITY DEMONSTRATES AGAINST DRUGS

LIVINGSTON -- On a dark, cold Main Street, a large group of people gathered
last Thursday night to remember loved ones and friends lost to drugs.

One somber little girl, carrying a candle and a red ribbon, said she was
praying for her sister. "My sister Angela is on drugs, and we are
babysitting her baby. I pray that she gets off of drugs soon."

More than 100 people gathered as part of Livingston's Red Ribbon Week, a
week dedicated to getting people off of drugs.

Thursday night's ceremony brought home the devastation that drugs can wreak
on families. Red ribbons were pinned on the Tree of Life for people
affected by drugs.

A steady stream of people, with red ribbons in hand, came up to the
microphone and remembered family members or friends who had succumbed to
drugs or who were fighting drugs. One woman clutching a red ribbon
remembered her cousin, Jessica, who had died from alcohol poisoning at the
age of 15. "No one thinks about alcohol being a drug, but it is. Kids think
they are invincible, but Jessica wasn't."

Livingston Police Chief Bill Eldridge said he has someone new every year to
remember. This year it was Monica.

"Monica was 16 years old when we first got called to her house. She tried
to commit suicide, and she was addicted to cocaine. We went out again on
her second attempt, and then on her third. The third time she was
successful," he said.

The weeklong celebration of Red Ribbon Week included children of all ages
decorating the town Monday, according to John Mucci. After the decorations
were up, the children were treated to root beer floats by the organizing
committee.