At a Tuesday night meeting, seven people involved in the Marble City Drug Awareness Prevention Treatment (MCDAPT) Coalition group wrapped up details about the upcoming fish fry and forum, which is free to the public. The MCDAPT Coalition is hosting the forum and fish fry at the new Marble City Community Center north of town.
Tamara Cooksey, Marble City vice mayor and coalition president, said the forum is being held to discuss drug issues, to create goals, and to develop a plan to achieve those goals.
MCDAPT members will be the primary conductors of the meeting, but there will be professional input by members of the Cherokee Nation Anti-Meth Coalition (CNAMC), Cooksey said. CNAMC is acting as technical advisors to the group, which is getting off the ground and wanting to get more people involved.
Cooksey said the coalition is a collaborative project that is bringing together community members from all organizations and as many groups and people as possible to combat the methamphetamine and drug epidemic in the community. She said they began talking about having a coalition last summer, and since then they have been holding monthly meetings.
Myra Robertson of Marble City with Cherokee Nation's Cherokees Helping Initiate Progress said she is also helping getting the group started. Robertson said she is serving as a liaison between the community and Cherokee Nation.
Marble City's coalition is not the first of its kind. Robertson pointed out that other communities have formed or are in the process of forming drug coalitions, including Dry Creek, Greasy and Westville.
"We're hoping to start at the community level," Robertson said.
Robertson said that she thinks people have been aware that something is wrong for a long time, but no one has taken the initiative to do something about it.
Cooksey said the free Saturday event, which is set from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., is being held to get more people involved.
The public forum will include various presentations throughout the day, including a methamphetamine lab contamination presentation by CNAMC, an explanation about Cherokee Nation's Drug Court, a 9-1-1 house numbering update by Art Floyd with the Eastern Oklahoma Development District, and several focus group sessions to discuss drug problems in the community.
Cooksey said she did her own survey at Marble City School, asking students about what they know about drugs. The results of that survey will also be presented at the forum.
"I think it (the results) will be eye opening for parents," she said of the survey.
Door prize drawings and entertainment will also be held between presentations, and various information booths will also be set up throughout the daylong event.
The fish fry is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will include fried fish, beans, coleslaw, cornbread, desserts, tea and Kool-Aid.
"It's all free," Cooksey noted.
After lunch, arts and crafts activities and games are planned, including Cherokee storytelling, basket making, corn-husk doll making, a bow-making demonstration, Cherokee marble games, a horseshoe tournament that has a $5 entry fee, and a free-throw shoot with a $2 entry fee. The proceeds of the horseshoe tournament and free-throw shoot will go toward the coalition's work, Cooksey said.
A drawing for a 50/50 pot will be held at the conclusion of the event.
Sam Bradshaw and Mary HorseChief-Henderson with CNAMC are acting as technical advisors for the grassroots organization and will be leading focus groups during the forum.
As part of the focus groups planned, Bradshaw said they are going to do a concerned survey to help identify what community members see are important issues and strengths in their community.
He said this type of survey is the best survey for large groups and it helps build a consensus in the community. Bradshaw noted that it also sets an agenda for community work that genuinely reflects community needs.
A breakout session will also be held where participants express more in-depth what they think the problems are. There will be facilitators for the break-out sessions, in which residents will formulate the vision and mission statement for the community. Bradshaw added that one of the main goals of the event is to increase participation.
HorseChief-Henderson described the forum as a brainstorm session to get input from people about drugs, alcohol and tobacco issues. Problems, strengths and resources, and barriers will be the focus of the sessions.
HorseChief-Henderson said they want to end with residents envisioning the way they want their community to be.
For more information about the local coalition, contact Cooksey at (918) 775-2030 or Koki Wilson at (918) 235-0887.
