Bands battle meth in the park

Some wore black concert T-shirts, lip piercings and tattoos at Saturday's Music Over Meth event.

Others like Regina Wallis, of Yuba City, wore shirts emblazoned with anti-drug messages.

Wallis wore a T-shirt with the words "Got Recovery" on it. She said she has been clean and sober for five years after using alcohol and methamphetamine.

"It almost destroyed me," said Wallis. She said she lifeless and destroyed even though she was physically alive. Child Protective Services took her two children from her home which did not have electricity because the power was shut off.

But she went to a recovery program, got her life and her two boys back, Justin, 13, and Steven, 7 and was at Saturday's concert with them.

"I'm just grateful to be alive," said Wallis. "It's just awesome."

Blazing temperatures that reached 105 degrees at the Yuba County Airport didn't stifle the message at Saturday's Music Over Meth concert put on by Friday Night Live at Beckwourth Riverfront Park in Marysville.

An estimated 600 people went to the show but many left before it was over to get out of the heat.

Eric Skinner, 27, of Yuba City, was sprawled out in the shade on the levee, enjoying the bands.

Skinner, who said he was a recovering meth addict, said the show was a good, fun place with amateur but live bands.

"It's safe, it's something the young people should be doing," said Skinner.

Friday Night Live Executive Director Nancy Cook said attendance at the free concert met expectations.

"I hope we get the message across, that's the main thing," said Cook.

Cook gained one more volunteer Saturday when a recovering meth addict told Cook she wanted to help.

In between bands, former meth users took the stage to talk about their experiences.

"Life's a choice and you have to choose to live," said Eric Smith, 30, of Grass Valley, one of the former meth users who became part of the event by talking to the crowd. He is now a drug and alcohol counselor.

The concert was uneventful with no arrests reported by Cook and only one medical transport for a man who suffered from heat-related medical problems.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter John Dickey at 749-4711 or jdickey@appealdemocrat.com