Organizers of this year’s
”
Safe and Sober Grad Night
”
for San Benito High School seniors hope the promise of a fun
atmosphere will lead to a doubling of attendance over last year’s
event. Still, concerns for those students who drink and don’t
attend remain strong.
Hollister – Organizers of this year’s “Safe and Sober Grad Night” for San Benito High School seniors hope the promise of a fun atmosphere will lead to a doubling of attendance over last year’s event. Still, concerns for those students who drink and don’t attend remain strong.
The Friday night party at O’Donnell Gym will include casino and carnival games, a bungee run, bull riding, sumo wrestling, dancing, rock climbing, and a variety of other sober activities.
A disk jockey will provide music from 9pm to 4am Organizers will also raffle off two $500 cash prizes, a bike and other gifts. Many of the raffle prizes were donated to the Sober Grad Committee by local merchants.
“The purpose of this event is to give these young adults the privilege to all be together in a fun and sober environment,” said Sober Grad Committee Chairperson Danita Brigantino. “We’ve lost a lot of young adults in Hollister as a result of drinking and driving.”
Among those lost to drinking and driving are Matt Lopez and P.J. Galvan, both 18-year-old SBHS graduates who died in 2003 when the car they were passengers in overturned.
“Graduation night is a big drinking and partying night,” said Co-committee Chairperson Eric Von Urff. “If we can save just one life it would be a great benefit to the entire community.”
Brigantino said that she expects about 300 of the school’s 600 seniors to attend the event, nearly twice as many as last year, which was the first time the event barred entrance to intoxicated students. She said that she expects the number of students to increase because of how well the event went last year.
“I think all the kids last year had a really good time.” Brigantino said. “I also think that the event has been better promoted this year and that the idea of being able to remember your graduation night is appealing to students.”
“In past years this event was seen as a ‘sober up’ party by the students. Kids would drink before the event and come to get sober,” Von Urff said. “This year the CHP will be there with a breathalyzer to test everyone, even parents.”
The change in the event’s format, from “sober up” to “safe and sober,” was made because the former was not working, Brigantino said.
Director of the Monterey chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Doris Cabaluna said that she agreed with the change in format.
“Students who show up to this event drunk should be held there until their parents come to pick them up,” Cabaluna said. “Turning them away won’t help the problem.”
SBHS senior Paige Gardner said that she will not be attending the event because few of her close friends are going. She also said that in the past the event had received bad reviews because students would show up drunk.
“I would go if we were allowed to leave early, but they won’t let us leave until we are picked up by a parent,” Gardner said.
Another senior, Adrienne Jones, said she will attend.
“I heard that it was fun last year,” Jones said. “I lot of my friends are going to be there and I like the fact that I don’t have to worry about drunk driving.”
Although the event will be held at SBHS, funding has been provided by donations from members of the community. Von Urff estimated the cost of the event at $14,000 to $15,000.
“After so many tragic car accidents involving our youth, the community has become concerned and many companies responded and helped to support this event,” Brigantino said. “Nonetheless, I feel that we still need more participation from the community, especially students’ parents.”
Von Urff agreed, calling parental support for the event “mediocre.”
Brigantino and Von Urff are not the only people concerned about drinking and driving in Hollister. San Benito High School Principal Debbie Padilla believes that the problem is an issue not only with her students, but also with the entire community. Padilla said that she has been working all semester to make sure that students get the message that drinking and driving is a serious problem.
“We’re hoping to increase the opportunities for students and create more safe venues, outside of school, for students to hang out at,” Padilla said.
Von Urff said that the event is aimed more at providing a safe place for students who want to be sober to hang out than at students who have all ready decided to drink that night.
“The students who don’t attend are out of our hands,” he said. “There is not much we can do for them, all we can do is encourage them to come.”
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or br******@fr***********.com
