Hope Rocks held a two-day festival at Cantine Field in Saugerties last weekend. The festival featured a number of bands and heartfelt stories of overcoming addiction or other obstacles in life from people who had succeeded in changing their lives.
The event is a major fundraiser for Hope Rocks. It is “about empowering communities and individuals within communities to commit to taking responsibility and taking action against these dreadful and deadly trends and epidemics that we have in our society,” said Joe Defino, Hope Rocks president and founder, in a prepared statement. “The Hope Rocks festival is our big event.”
In addition to musical acts, the event featured vendors and resources for those recovering from substance-abuse issues. “We all have a connection to someone who is either suffering from addiction or committed suicide,” Defino said.
Jeffrey Des Kovic told of the harrowing 16 years he spent in jail for a murder he did not commit based on a coerced confession and despite DNA evidence that did not match his. Eventually, the real criminal was caught for another crime and confessed to the one Kovic was convicted for. Des Kovic went on and obtained a bachelor’s degree, a master’s and finally a scholarship to law school. He has been a licensed attorney for just under a year and a half. “Everything can turn around for you, that’s my point,” he said. Des Kovic offered a formula for successfully overcoming failure or grief: First, have a goal. Second, develop a plan for reaching the goal; this may take several revisions. Third, remember the plan is not the goal; be prepared to revise the plan as new information comes in. Finally, be prepared to do hard work.”
Terry Falzano played the trumpet and talked about his recovery from addiction. He’s been in recovery for three decades and is living a quiet life raising black-angus cattle. He said his biggest reward in recovery is his wife. But drugs continued to plague him. “I lost my son two years ago to fentanyl, he said. He credits his Christian religion and a caring community, including Hope Rocks, for helping him get through tragedy.
Doc Halliday Golden talked about her first experience as a runner, from her first 10K race to her Iron Man events, which include a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile marathon. That first 10K scared her, but a good friend ran with her and kept to her pace. She was wearing a NYU sweatshirt and was amazed to hear spectators cheering her on: “NYU you’ve got this” and similar calls that helped her keep going. Golden said there was a woman behind her who, when she thought she couldn’t go on, told her that she had been following her as a way of keeping herself going. The lessons she hoped her audience would take away: you never know who is in your corner, in her case the many strangers who cheered her on and the impact you have on the people around you. “You don’t realize who’s watching you and who’s learning from you,” she said.
In addition to the music and the stories of overcoming adversity, a continuous softball tournament took place during both days of the festival, including the night between Saturday and Sunday. Teams played for two hours and then the next pair took the field. Drew Wood put together the 24-hour tournament and teams paid a fee to play, which raised money for Hope Rocks.
Join the family! 
