Second Annual SoberFest to be held in city

Fortaleza LLC will host The Second Annual SoberFest 2016 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 6 at Lorain’s Oakwood Park.

The theme for this year is “Old School Community Day” and will be a day of adult and youth sports competition with tournaments in volleyball, softball, flag football, corn hole and free throw point shoot out.

There also will be free food, free haircuts, door prizes and free T-shirts for the first 2,000, but they must come in and register. Seven local bands in the community also will be performing throughout the day.

“We are taking it back to a time when ‘Community’ stood for all of us are looking out for each other,” said Fortaleza CEO Anthony Villa. His company’s vision and mission is to bring healing and restoration to individuals, families and community.

Villa’s company is an opiate treatment clinic with offices in Lorain, Cuyahoga and Medina counties.

Last year’s SoberFest had at least 1,100 people, based on T-shirts given away at the event, Villa said.

The 2015 party was at Black River Landing, but that site was not available this year, Villa said. Oakwood Park has enough space to support SoberFest while keeping it in Lorain.

Attendance this year could hit 2,500 or more, Villa said.

“We figure if we can double what we did last year, people are supporting us and we’re moving in the right direction,” he said.

Those who would like more information can call 440-324-7406. There still are slots available for teams to sign up for the sports tournaments.

Along with Fortaleza, Villa thanked a number of business sponsors for their help.

“The most important thing right now for us is to recognize this isn’t a one-person or a one-entity thing,” he said. “It takes a community to make it happen and it’s all about the community.”