Community Corner
Betty Ford Center Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Events start Friday morning and will be held at the Rancho Mirage facility and in other locations around the Coachella Valley.
The Betty Ford Center expects hundreds of alumni from around the world at its 30th anniversary celebration this weekend, center officials said.
Events start Friday morning and will be held at the Rancho Mirage facility and in other locations around the Coachella Valley.
The weekend will honor former first lady Betty Ford, who founded the center in 1982 and died last year, and will celebrate recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, according to the center's website.
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Activities will run from 7:30 a.m. Friday through noon Sunday.
On Friday, a golf tournament will be held at Desert Willow Golf Resort in Palm Desert, a sculpture of Ford will be dedicated and a fireworks display will conclude the day.
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Saturday is the annual "State of the Center" talk, followed by presentations by experts on several topics.
The center's anniversary reception and banquet are Saturday night at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort in Indian Wells. A yoga class and brunch are available Sunday morning.
Events are planned for people treated at clinic's children's program and 12-step meetings for family members and alumni of the treatment programs.
After completing treatment for chemical dependency at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Long Beach, Ford and friend Leonard Firestone, a Firestone tire board member and U.S. ambassador to Belgium, founded the nonprofit center in Rancho Mirage in 1982.
Almost 100,000 people have been treated at the center since it was founded, according to its website.
For information or to register, call (760) 636-5985.
