Annual addiction program car show aims to fund recovery center

On Saturday, hundreds of car enthusiasts will descend on Hogansville for the fifth annual Celebrate Recovery Car & Bike Show.

Celebrate Recovery Hogansville is a Christ-centered rehabilitation program that works with First Baptist Church of Hogansville. The program seeks to help those recovering from alcohol and drugs.

Bill Dollar organizes the show each year with his wife Debbie. Bill leads the Celebrate Recovery program in Hogansville and is a recovery success story himself, celebrating 12 years of sobriety this year after 38 years of addiction.

Since its inception, the car show has grown into a huge success as well. Dollar said they had around 200 cars last year to the point that they had to turn some vehicles away. They are hoping not to have to do so this year as they have additional space. He said the city told him they estimated around 2000 people attended last year’s show, but he isn’t sure because they don’t sell tickets.

It’s a big event, he said, saying they have food trucks and other vendors.

The Celebrate Recovery program in Hogansville started 12 years ago. Participants meet at the church on Sundays at 3 p.m.

“The thing that sets us apart a little bit from some of the other groups is that we are so active in the community. We try to reach out, and we try to be a big part of those lives. We’ve seen a lot of people have their lives changed,” Dollar said.

Celebrate Recovery also works with Troup County Accountability Courts. The program coordinates with the accountability courts to work with participants, much like Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous programs. Accountability court participants go through Celebrate Recovery to both hold each other accountable and to support each other.

Dollar said they hope to use funds from the car show to open a recovery outreach center. There is a need to have a building outside of the church where participants can meet more regularly and be available when they are in crisis, he said.

“We know that this is probably going to take two or three years to do, to raise and have funds for it, but there is a need,” Dollar said. “We would like to end up being there at least six days a week, somebody at least eight hours, if not longer. If a family member of somebody in addiction is having a hard time, they can come in, have someone to talk to.”

Like similar programs, Celebrate Recovery helps those fighting to be free from addiction to get their life back on track, whether that means giving them rides to court appearances or working with them to obtain a GED, or get their license or kids back.

A space of their own will allow them to better help serve participants’ needs, Dollar said.

“Something as simple as having a washer and dryer there, in case people just need to have some clothes washed,” Dollar explained.

Dollar said part of helping recovering addicts get their lives together is learning life skills.

“That’s one of the things that we want to teach, just basic things,” Dollar said. “A lot of times, if you’re addicted at 15, you come out of it at 30, your mindset is really that of a 15-year-old because you’ve never dealt with the world.”

The Celebrate Recovery Car & Bike Show will be held Saturday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at  500 E. Main Street in Hogansville.

For more information, contact Bill Dollar at (706) 957-6258.

To avoid a conflict, the Troup High School Alumni Association Car Show, originally scheduled for this Saturday, has been rescheduled to May 17. For more information on the THS Alumni Car show contact, Ellis Cadenhead at [email protected] or (770) 713-4564.