MONTGOMERY – The Alabama Department of Mental Health & Mental Retardation today announced that Commissioner Kathy Sawyer would serve as keynote speaker at the upcoming Alabama Press Association Summer Convention. The event will take place on Saturday, July 21, 2001 at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, AL.

"I would like to thank Joel Smith of The Eufaula Tribune for inviting me to speak," Sawyer said. "Mr. Smith and several other members of the Alabama Press Association also hold membership on the department’s Community Education Advisory Committee. In that capacity, they provide an invaluable public service by helping us educate Alabamians about important mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse issues."

Sawyer will discuss issues impacting the state Department of Mental Health & Mental Retardation and her agency’s comprehensive three-year public education campaign, "We Are Alabama, Get To Know Us!"