In The Rooms/Satori Waters “Soberchobee”, at Okeechobee Music Festival! – By Ken Pomerance,

This story starts about 60 days ago. One of our associates, a psychologist at a treatment center I work with, mentioned that he was going to go to the 4 day long, Okeechobee Music Festival. This event was being put together from the same folks who promote Bonaroo in Tennessee. He then said that his daughter works for the promoters in a managerial capacity. Our first question was, is there going to be a “safe tent” there and if not, can we do it? For the next week or so, we went back and forth with phone calls and emails getting more information about the event, and telling the promoters about InTheRooms.com and Satori Waters Treatment Centers. There were many forms to fill out and insurance policies that needed to be purchased, but we were fully committed to doing this. We finally got permission to set up “Soberchobee” at Okeechobee!

Here’s where it gets interesting. We’d never done anything like this before. None of us had been to a festival like this since the early 70’s, and believe me, we weren’t looking to be drug free at that time! Just to give you an idea, I still have very blurry memories of my last festival where I listened to Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin while tripping my brains out on Orange Sunshine. Let’s just say that Recovery wasn’t part of that experience at all.

Fast forward to this week, where we got to host the “safe tent” called “Soberchobee”. When I first arrived in our rented 30 foot RV, I was immediately singled out to be searched by the Sheriff’s Departments’ two drug sniffing dogs. (They didn’t know they were literally “barking up the wrong tree!”) I tried to explain that I was drug free for over 33 years but they weren’t listening. Luckily, none of the previous renters left any drugs in the RV and I was finally sent on my merry way.

The place was amazing. There were 800 acres of old Florida wilderness, complete with small lakes with some white sandy beaches. There were scattered groves of tall pine trees, filled to the brim with hammocks. There was a huge ferris wheel turning in the center of the park. Most of all though, there were rows and rows and more rows of tents that went on for miles! RT and I slept in the RV right behind the Soberchobee tent. There were some VIP tents set up by the promoters with queen size beds, but I’m pretty sure that we were some of the most comfortable ones there!

Because we hadn’t done this before, we didn’t even know how to set up our space. We had a 10 x 20 foot tent so we set up half of it with a table and chairs, and the other half  for our meetings. We were able to get 25 people seated comfortably at a time, and used part of the tent lining to give us some anonymity. It worked perfectly! We started the day with a 9am meeting, and then had meetings every three hours throughout the day!

Because we were added so late, we weren’t included in the maps on the website or the app. We wondered how people would ever find us – but find us they did, and it was great! At first just one or two people showed up, then a group of about 20 young sober people from Jacksonville came by. Then another large sober group arrived, and I knew that we were underway. They were all so excited to have meetings to go to and their excitement was contagious. Some of the people had only a few days clean and sober, while others had years in Recovery. All of them had a common goal, to make it through the next 4 days without taking a drink or a drug and getting connected with other music lovers in Recovery! RT and I are in our sixties and over half of our lives have been spent in recovery. What do we have in common with these kids in their 20’s who are new to the program? Well, that’s the magic of a recovering community – experience, strength and hope was passed on in an environment not normally associated with abstinence from drugs and alcohol – and each of us, regardless of our age or amount of time in recovery, needed it equally.

We had one volunteer, Harold L., who had 16 months in the program making the connections, and the two of us “oldtimers” there, making sure that nothing got out of control. In a sense, we were the surrogate parents, and most of the attendees were the same ages as our kids.

Here’s just one snapshot of what it was like. We had 4 guys, roommates from Fort Lauderdale, who dressed up as the Power Rangers. They went all over the park, dancing, getting crazy, and taking pictures with lots of people. And then, they ended up in their costumes at one of our meetings.

The 4 days went by very fast. The music never stopped – and I do mean never! I still can hear the pounding bass in my head. The weather was perfect, the music was incredible, there was yoga, art and food for everyone. Essentially, the festival was a fantastic success.

What sticks out in my mind the most, though, is that there were a bunch of kids that wanted to experience this spectacular event clean and sober, and they got their wish! We’re deeply grateful to have been able to play a small role in that.

See you there next year!