Posted by Wesley (207.172.11.147) on May 08, 2000 at 07:53:36:
In Reply to: Sarasota Straight Oct `80 - Oct `81 posted by Virginia McNulty on May 07, 2000 at 17:11:24:
Regarding the opening date of Straight-South, I can offer the following from Wes Fager's unpublished/unedited book
Excerpt begins: Mel Sembler must have been furious at George Ross for taking his business down to Sarasota. No one knows when Straight would have moved into Sarasota–if ever–had it not been for George Ross. But then Sarasota was a logical choice for Straight expansion. By November 1980 Straight was swelling with over 300 clients from Pinellas and Hillsborough counties and from neighboring Pasco County to the north and Sarasota County to the south. Many of these clients were from at least 20 different states with large concentrations of clients from the Cincinnati, Atlanta and Washington D.C. areas. [The Atlanta Journal, The Atlanta Constitution, and the Atlanta Weekly, December 14, 1980.] Money was being made and it was time to fulfill Art Barker's illusive dream of operating Seeds all over America. Straight already had well-placed seeds in target area Washington, D.C. Only 45 miles south of Saint Petersburg down Highway 75, Sarasota and neighboring Manatee counties provided a population base of 400,000 souls and again, Straight already had several clients from the Sarasota area. Like Miller Newton, Cathy Schwartz was a dedicated Straight parent and so she was placed in the Straight training bull-pen for five months of training almost as soon as George Ross opened for business in Sarasota. Ms. Schwartz would open Straight-Sarasota, but the search was on for a more visible executive director, somebody more politically connected. Straight's clinical psychologist Bill Giesz, already hopelessly overwhelmed monitoring 300 kids as was apparent when he made his [censored for now] court room appearance in the Michael Calabrese trial, would now divide his time between Straight-Saint Petersburg and Straight-South, spending three days a week in Sarasota. He announced that Straight-South planned to have an "educational reassessment and placement program" to help teens catch up on lost schooling. "This is not only to help them because of what (education they missed while at Straight, but also what they missed while on drugs before they went to Straight," he reportedly said. [Sarasota Herald Tribune, 12-17-80.] Perhaps Wallace H. "Sandy" Nichols of Port Charlotte, Florida was one of the early Straight parents to the south who helped launch the Sarasota expansion program. Sandy would become president of the board of directors for Straight-South, and in 1985 he became a member-at-large on Straight's national board of directors. [Sarasota Herald Tribune, 7-20-83, p. 1B.] On November 2, 1980 Straight-South opened for business at 1401 Cattleman Road, Sarasota, Florida with Cathy Schwartz as an interim executive director. HRS granted it a license to operate in 1980. Within two years Straight-South had about 120 clients. End Excerpt. Excerpt copyrighted by Wesley M. Fager, Oakton, Virginia 1999
Wes Fager
: Hey Ya'll,
: So far anyone who's specifically looking for the info. would be able to figure out which location and time I was at. But you'd never know a Ginger Warbis. I was told upon intake that the name I'd been given by my family sometime before kindergarten was an olddruggie tie. And, of course, I've married since then so my sir name has changed also.
: If you were in Straight Sarasota from the date it opened (anyone know off-hand?) till Oct of `82 you'd have known me as Virginia McNulty. I would much prefer it if you'd call me Ginger, since Straight is the only place I've ever been called by my given name. But I'm getting more and more curious about the people I knew back then, where you've gone, how you're doing. Please let me know you're alright or (though I dread hearing about it) if not.
: Ginger