An event is in the works that will celebrate recovery in Limestone County.

“September is National Recovery Month and all through the states events will be going on,” said organizer Carole Waddell, a recovery-support specialist with the Recovery Organization of Support Specialists, or ROSS. “I want our community to be involved.”

National Recovery Month is sponsored each September by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as a way to increase awareness and understanding of mental and substance-use disorders as well as celebrate people in recovery.

The Limestone County event will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, at Wellness Park, 940 W. Washington St. in Athens.

Waddell said recovery-support groups, treatment centers, halfway houses and faith-based centers will be represented at the event.

“If you have information or a service that’s geared toward recovery, please come out and set up a table,” Waddell said, adding those in the medical community, law enforcement, first responders and family support systems are also invited to take part in the family-friendly event.

“We will have testimonies throughout the day from people who are in recovery,” she said. “They will talk about how they got into recovery and what it is like for them now.”

The keynote speaker is Pam Butler with the Alabama Department of Mental Health.

“She is the one who certifies the recovery support specialists, who are people in long-term recovery themselves,” Waddell said.

Waddell is hoping someone will help provide food. She is also looking for musicians to volunteer their time and talent at the event.

“It’s going to be a festival, basically,” she said. “We are going to be celebrating recovery.”

Those interested in being a part of the even should contact Waddell at 205-573-7730.