Drug-Free South Says, “Di no a las drogas” (Say No to Drugs)

The Drug-Free South community organization will reach out to the Hispanic Community at the upcoming El Protector Festival.

The El Protector festival was established by the Metro Nashville Police Department in 2008 as a way for the police to connect with the Hispanic community and show that the police are here to protect citizens. The festival has been a hit ever since with thousands of people attending each year.

Community organizations participate in the festival each year, and 2014 will be no different. 

Drug-Free South is one organization set to participate. The organization is reaching out further to the communities in Tennessee to spread a positive message to empower youth and adults alike with the knowledge of how drugs really harm people.

Ann Vallieres volunteers for Drug-Free South. She says that spreading these positive messages is “addicting.” Vallieres, who originally hails from Canada, has been volunteering for Drug-Free South since 2010, “I feel it’s my responsibility to reach everyone in Tennessee – to make sure people get the truth about drugs.”

Vallieres says that the only reason people take drugs is because of the lies being propagated by dealers.

When asked about participating in El Protector, Vallieres said she is excited, “I love to reach new communities and meet people. This festival will be a great opportunity to make a big impact.”

For more information on the El Protector festival, visit the Nashville.gov/police-department website and search for El Protector.  For more information on Drug-Free South, visit drugfreesouth.org.

Church of Scientology Participates in ArtOber with Art Displays In Its Public Information Center

Since 2009, the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville has hosted the Artlightenment Art Show and Film Festival. This year, the church will also host an art display during the Metro Nashville Arts Commission’s ArtOber which occurs each October.

According to artobernashville.com, Artober is a month-long celebration of arts and culture in Nashville, designed to inform and inspire the community’s awareness of and participation in the array of activities during the month of October. It is held in conjunction with National Arts and Humanities Month, designated by Americans for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The goal for Artober is for every Nashvillian to experience the arts. The Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and NowPlayingNashville.com partner with hundreds of arts and cultural organizations throughout Nashville to highlight the depth and breadth of arts activities with official Artober Nashville events.

The Church of Scientology will host an arts display in its Public Information Center during October in alignment with other Artober events. This display will come just before the Artlightentment show which occurs in the church November 13-15.

“We are excited to have back-to-back art displays in our church this year. Our church is all about helping artists, and we love being able to provide a beautiful space for them to showcase their works,” says President of the Church, Corinne Sullivan.

For more information on the Church of Scientology or its upcoming events, visit scientology-ccnashville.org. For more information about Artober, visit artobernashville.com. 

Church of Scientology Hosts Regi Wooten’s Upcoming Seminar on Becoming a Full-Time Musician

In April this year, the Church of Scientology hosted the oldest of the Wooten Brothers, Regi, for a seminar about his approach to delivering a great performance. Now he returns for part two.

The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville is proud to announce that Regi Wooten will return for part two of his “My Approach to Music” seminar and jam session on September 13. It has now been confirmed that his next seminar will be titled “Become a Full-Time Musician,” and promises to give insightful information on how to make a career out of one’s passion.

“Scientology Founder, L. Ron Hubbard, spoke about the importance of the arts, and we know that art can keep a culture vibrant and alive,” says Corinne Sullivan, President of the Nashville Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre.  She described that the reason for a Nashville Celebrity Centre is to help forward the arts and encourage artists in general. “That’s why our Church hosts these seminars for musicians,” she says.

Regi Wooten is glad to return to the Church to deliver his next seminar on music. His signature guitar style of chording, slapping, tapping and frenzied strumming has earned him world-wide notoriety and comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and Chuck Berry, according to jeffcenter.org. He is known worldwide as “The Teacher,” and currently teaches music in Nashville, TN.  He was teaching his little brothers Joseph and Victor when he was only 9 years old. 

Regi has played alongside his brothers since they were young, and for over four decades the Wooten Brothers have been recognized as some of the most innovative musicians in existence. Their early years were spent living in different states including Hawaii, California, and Virginia where they shared stages with Curtis Mayfield, The Temptations, Ramsey Lewis, Stephanie Mills, War and other artists. In the mid 1980s, the brothers released an album as The Wootens for Clive Davis’ Arista Records. 

Wooten’s last seminar provided inspiration to many Nashville artists. The upcoming “Become a Full-Time Musician” seminar is likely to draw a large crowd as before.  The seminar will be on September 13^th at 1pm. For more information, call Julie at 615-687-4600, or visit the Church’s website scientology-ccnashville.org.

Drug-Free South Wants Every Night to Be a Night Out Against Crimes

Drug-Free South participated in National Night Out Against Crime by distributing the Truth About Drugs booklets.

A Nashville community hosted a block party on 12^th Avenue South from Edgehill to Horton Avenue in honor of the “Night Out Against Crime.” Stopping crime before it starts: that is the idea behind these events where police come together with residents and community organizations.

Drug-Free South participates each year, but coordinator Rev. Brian Fesler says he would prefer it if every night was a night out against crime, “Drug-Free South is all about reversing the demand for drugs. Without the demand, the marketplace would dry up and our kids would dry out.”

National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back, according to natw.org.

Drug-Free South representatives say they want to reach more people.  “We gave out 500 booklets, but that’s just one community – we need to reach more,” says Anne Vallieres who volunteers for Drug-Free South.  “It is important to get this booklet into many people’s hands so we can prevent drug abuse at all levels.”

For more information on National Night Out, visit natw.org.  For more information on Drug-Free South or to order a Truth About Drugs booklet, visit drugfreesouth.org. 

Church of Scientology Hosts Sunday Tea for Grandparent’s Day

The Nashville Church of Scientology will be hosting a special Sunday Tea in honor of Grandparents’ Day.

Grandparents’ Day has been celebrated in the United States on each Sunday following Labor Day since 1978 when President Jimmy Carter signed a proclamation for this to be a national holiday. The holiday focuses on recognizing the role of the millions of older Americans who are grandparents. 

The Church of Scientology in Nashville announced this week that it would host a special tea for grandparents on September 7^th.  This is part of a series the church now does – tea time with a twist. Guests are able to relax and chat with one another, but also learn something from the scriptures of Scientology to help them in life.

President Carter was quoted as saying, “Because [grandparents] are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations.”

The founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, stressed the importance of family, and it will be with this theme that the tea will occur.

“Scientology means ‘knowing how to know,’” according to the church’s website, “Scientology is all about learning to do things to improve conditions in your own life and in particular in the lives of others.  An active Scientologist is not only considered to be someone who attends a Scientology church or studies Scientology, but rather someone who actively uses the insights and knowledge that Scientology gives them to make a real, positive difference in the lives of others.”

“Our Sunday Teas encompass what our church is all about - sharing knowledge,” says President of the Church, Corinne Sullivan.

“The Church of Scientology is the perfect place to talk about tools for life,” says parishioner Betsy Brubaker who took part in organizing the series of Sunday Teas at the Church. 

For more information about Scientology, visit the website, scientology-ccnashville.org. For more information about events and happenings, call the church at 615-687-4600.   

Church of Scientology Hosts Practical Seminar for Musicians this Fall

The Church of Scientology announced this week that it is hosting a seminar to help aspiring musicians on October 4, 2014.

The Church of Scientology & Celebrity Centre Nashville has a mission. “Our purpose is to help artists,” says Corinne Sullivan, president of the church, who continues, “When you elevate the artist, you uplift the entire community.” The Church, located at 1130 8^th Avenue South, has booked a seminar with a professional musician of 40 years alongside a successful businessman to assist the blossoming talent in Nashville.

On October 4, Craig Ferreira and Chuck Jacobs will present a seminar on “The Business of Music: How to Make Music Your Career.” Musicians of all genres are welcome to attend.

Craig Ferreira has been the CEO of Survival Strategies, Inc. for nearly 30 years. Survival Strategies is a successful management training firm based in Los Angeles. Chuck Jacobs has been a professional musician, playing electric bass for over 40 years, performing in the studios and live the world over with artists such as Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, Lionel Richie, Alison Krauss, Wynona Judd and Smokey Robinson.

Together, these two will give a seminar to help musicians make a career out of their music. Sullivan observed that many musicians are struggling in Nashville, holding down a job while doing music on the side. “Musicians really need is to learn how to make money with the thing they are most passionate about – music,” she says, “and that’s why we decided to host this seminar – we want to give them a leg up.”

The seminar is open to the public.  For more information, call 615-687-4600 or visit www.scientology-ccnashville.org.

Drug-Free South Spreads Message in East Nashville

Saturday, August 2, was a beautiful, warm day to be in the community. In East Nashville, Drug-Free South participated in a Community Day to spread the Truth About Drugs.

Citizens of East Nashville were brought together for learning and discussion around hot topics during a Community Festival on Saturday. One organization that participated was Drug-Free South, an initiative which is seeking to stop the demand for drugs by educating youth and adults alike on what drugs really do to harm people.

Volunteer Ann Vallieres says, “It’s important to spread this information, because with each person who gets the truth – that’s another life saved.”

In just the past month, more than 60 drug-related crimes have occurred in East Nashville, according to crimemapping.com. That’s not to mention the more than 350 other crimes that occurred in that area in the same timeframe.

Rev. Brian Fesler who coordinates Drug-Free South (DFS), a chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, says Nashville is in danger and, “we have to double and triple our efforts if we are ever going to have an entirely drug-free society.”

The East Nashville Community Day festival had music, food, one-on-one basketball and much more. Dozens of young people attended with their parents.

Participating in community festivals is part of continued efforts by DFS to create drug-free zones across Tennessee.  DFS works with youth, educators, parents, community leaders and law enforcement officers to provide drug education to children and teens by working together with the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. DFS also enters the classroom, with a series of drug education resources that work—a multimedia program that speaks to the youth of today, informing them of the truth about drugs and empowering them to make their own decisions to live drug-free.

Drug-Free South is dedicated to handling the drug problem in Tennessee.  For more information, visit drugfreesouth.org.