Motivational speaker makes return visit to Union County

A RETURN VISIT: Milton Creagh will speak in La Grande and Island City on Tuesday and Wednesday about drugs and alcohol. Creagh is shown here giving a presentation at La Grande High School in September 2007. - Observer file photo

Creagh, a nationally  recognized motivational speaker from Atlanta, will be here Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss drug and alcohol problems and how communities can address and prevent them.

This will be Creagh’s second appearance in Union County in less than a year. He spoke here in late September 2007 when he was grand marshal of the annual Drug Free Relay. Creagh is being brought back because of his popularity a year ago, said Jan Harris of the Drug Free Relay, which is again sponsoring the motivational speaker.

Creagh will give three presentations that are open to the public. The first will be at La Grande High School at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The talk will be for high school and middle school students but is open to everyone.

Creagh on Wednesday will give two public talks. His first will be at noon at the Wal-Mart parking lot. Hot dogs will be served.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday Creagh will speak at a Community Rally Against Drug Use at the Blue Mountain Conference Center. He will discuss area drug problems and ideas for addressing them.

Creagh will give a total of six talks, all free. Presentations he is also set to give include one at the Joseph building for individuals in the court system, including those who are on parole and probation. Another talk will be given to inmates in the Union County Correctional Facility.

Creagh, 50, is no stranger to the spotlight. He has spoken to more than 8 million people in person over the past decade. Creagh is the former host of the national PBS series “Parenting Works!’’ He also has hosted two television programs for teens in Atlanta. The programs were nominated for Emmy awards.

At 6-foot-7 and about 300 pounds, Creagh takes on drug and alcohol issues in outspoken fashion. He believes the only way drug and alcohol problems will be successfully addressed is if people start altering how they live their lives.

“A lot of times we want to see change ourselves. The change you want to see must begin with you,’’ Creagh tells audiences.

He also emphasizes that drug problems in communities are hidden because of the masks people don. Creagh explains that people have become so adept at hiding the negative impact drugs are having on their lives that this allows problems to grow without being addressed. He refers to this as a masquerade, one which must end.

Creagh is convinced that the best way to prevent a community’s young people from using drugs is to stop adults from using them. He explained why during his visit to La Grande last year.

“Whenever we start talking about doing something about drugs, people say, ‘Let’s stop the kids,’ ’’ Creagh said. “That doesn’t hit the problem.’’

He said that a community may make an admirable effort to stop youths from using drugs with a wide range of anti-substance abuse programs and activities.

“But if a kid goes home and sees Mom smoking weed (marijuana) and Dad cooking meth (methamphetamines), that kid grows up thinking it is normal behavior to use drugs,’’ Creagh said.

Creagh is being brought in ahead of this year’s Drug Free Relay, which is Sept. 27, in part to help generate interest in it, said Karen Hamilton of the Drug Free Relay. This year’s relay will run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the La Grande High School track. Information on the Sept. 27 Drug Free Relay is available at www.drugfreerelay.org .