Three Sisters Park Has Had Enough of Summer Camp

[StoneMtn]

Three Sisters Park Has Had Enough of Summer Camp

June 21st, 2006

By Greg Lake

Park will no longer host festival

Summer Camp decision comes after drug arrests

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

By DAVE HANEY

OF THE JOURNAL STAR

CHILLICOTHE - Three Sisters Park has had enough of Summer Camp.

The annual outdoor music festival more than doubles the population of Chillicothe, with concertgoers from across the country trekking to this Peoria County town.

For three days and nights last month, more than 8,000 Summer Camp attendees reveled in jam band harmony while shelling out their tourist dollars to many of the local businesses.

Unfortunately, the concert also has come to symbolize a draw for illegal drug users, distributors and potential life-threatening consequences.

As a result, park manager Chris Cassidy said the privately owned Three Sisters will no longer host the event.

“It’s mainly because of the injuries being associated with the druggies,†Cassidy said Monday.

The decision came after the park received a petition from a doctor at OSF Saint Francis

Medical Center, along with the signatures of more than 80 other physicians, nurses and staff at the Peoria hospital requesting the festival come to a halt.

Dr. Richard Frederick, an emergency room physician at OSF who worked the same weekend as the late May concert, said his action was prompted by the “numerous drug overdoses†coming into the hospital during the event.

“Somebody is going to die one of these days,†Frederick said Monday. He estimated 20 to 30 people were hospitalized for overdoses from various drugs, including LSD, GHB (the so-called date rape drug), cocaine, amphetamines and alcohol.

“Whether you realize it or not, this has turned into one of the Midwest’s most popular venues for the abuse of illegal drugs,†Frederick wrote in the petition dated June 1 and on letterhead from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.

Agents with the Multi-County Narcotics Enforcement Group arrested 30 people involved in the illegal sale of drugs during the festival. They also seized 2,373 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 91 hits of LSD, 394 grams of marijuana, and smaller amounts of heroin, cocaine, Ecstasy and ketamine.

MEG director Larry Hawkins previously said there were “people calling out what drugs they had for sale, but they were a little less obvious about it†than last year.

Despite attending this year’s festival and seeing none of what Frederick related, Cassidy noted: “This is a family park; that’s not what we’re about.â€

Summer Camp promoter Jay Goldberg said the music festival will go on, with or without Chillicothe.

Goldberg, who already has received proposals from other communities - mostly from outside the state - said he believes the Three Sisters Park board made a hasty decision.

“I’d love to see Summer Camp continue at Three Sisters Park, but they need to decide whether they want to host big events,†Goldberg said. “Anytime you have big events - look at the NASCAR races or a tailgate party at a Jimmy Buffet concert - there’s some potential for something to happen. With big crowds, it all goes hand-in-hand.â€

Goldberg said he doesn’t condone drug use and that emergency personnel were in place for all serious situations. He added that Frederick, an attending physician at OSF, “is in the position of authority; it’s unethical.â€

Frederick, an ER doctor for more than 25 years, said his petition was not sanctioned by the hospital, and he did not pressure anyone to sign. He said he simply left it on a desk for others to sign if they wished.

“My concern is with the health of these kids,†he said.

Chillicothe Police Chief Steve Maurer said most arrests at the event were for drug offenses.

“Anytime you double the size of the town, you’re going to have some problems,†he said.

“But 95 percent of the people at Three Sisters were here to listen to music and have a good time and spend their money in Chillicothe,†Maurer said. “The other 5 percent are those who follow the concerts selling drugs. You’ll have that at any concert, whether it’s here, in Peoria or wherever.â€

Dave Haney can be reached at 686-3181 or dhaney@pjstar.com .

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[afro poppa]

wow thats kind of a bummer, but good thing that it will still happen next year...maybe at a closer spot??

I realllllly hope this doesn't happen to Bonnaroo, the cops there are extremely respectful and laid back, seemed to me they only really cared about nitrous...

[StoneMtn]

I don't think they were too thrilled about the wasted Ohio-resident who fatally threw himself in front of Ricky Skaggs' tourbus, either.

That said, there were two drug-related deaths at Bonnaroo in 2004, and I think others last year, so it's nothing new.