In this week’s “Sense of Community” series we’ve concentrated on the problem of opioid addiction in our region. Of course, alcohol abuse is an equally pervasive problem, and you’re going to meet a recovering alcoholic here in Springfield who just celebrated his 24 th year of sobriety. Originally from St. Louis, Jim Terry will turn 61 years of age at the end of March. His father was born in Bentonville, Arkansas but grew up in Springfield—he was on the staff of the Springfield News-Leader in the 1930s, writing movie reviews among other duties. While Jim and his six brothers and sisters lived in St. Louis they came down here to the Ozarks frequently for vacations. “And I really kind of loved Springfield, I loved the lakes,” says Terry. “So I moved down here—it’s probably going on thirty years now.” Terry says his father was an alcoholic, and believes there were other alcoholics in the family preceding his father. He “drank a lot” as a teenager, as indeed many teenagers do—“but at some
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