Safe and sober alternative

With a splash and a scream, Ashlee Erdman and Lindsay Vaage plunged into a shallow pool to kick off their senior party last week.

Several classmates from Priest River High School followed in their footsteps at Triple Play Family Fun Park in Hayden. It was a crazy bet in crisp 44-degree weather, but they each made $2,000 in fake cash.

“During the whole night, you do crazy stuff and you get money,” Ashlee said. “I’m not a real partier, but this is what I enjoy. I don’t have to worry about people driving, drinking, crashing.”

Ashlee, who is also vice president of Students Against Destructive Decisions at Priest River High School, said the “dry” graduation party was a welcome alternative to the traditional senior kegger because of one major difference – no alcohol.

Inside Triple Play, rooms full of rowdy teenagers whoop it up and make a scene as chaperones come up with more ways to dish out the play dough. Sometimes gambling tables are set up for the high rollers.

Students also get goodie bags and a chance to spend their earnings on an auction at the end with everything from TVs to dorm furniture and gift certificates.

Senior parties mark the end of school and are often the last chance for students to gather before moving on to college or careers. Similar scenes have played out around Inland Northwest in the past few weeks as graduates revel in months of hard work by parent groups; however, some students say the growth of dry parties will never replace the age-old tradition of year-end keggers.

Party planning takes more than a year as parents keep on the lookout out for good prizes and giveaways, hit the streets fund-raising, write letters and keep records. Booking reservations top the list of priorities, since spaces are snapped up on graduation nights to meet drug-free party grant requirements. Parent volunteers stay involved up to the party and sometimes for days afterward to help the next team of parents take charge.

“We exist for the party,” said Marsha Reese, this year’s chair of the Lakeland Senior Parent Committee for Lakeland High School in Rathdrum.

Reese has been involved with senior party organization off-and-on for eight years. Her fourth son is graduating this year and over time she’s seen the parties gain steam with seniors. While founded on a drug-free platform, the parties have evolved as a way to recognize the students’ accomplishments, she said.

Lakeland’s party, also at Triple Play, is tonight. The parent group budgeted $12,000 to pay for accommodations and prizes for about 130 students.

“One thing early on, because kids were still going out in the woods and drinking, was for this to be something to help them make a choice,” said Reese. “We want to let them have fun and take something home as part of it.”

The Idaho Department of Education stepped in 11 years ago with a program called Celebrate Graduation, which offers grants to cover some party expenses. The grant funds, sparked by a one-time federal grant, now come from a partnership with the Idaho Transportation Department’s office of highway safety and the Department of Juvenile Corrections’ underage drinking law enforcement grant.

Altogether, the three groups have about $90,000 to work with. About $20,000 is typically used for an anti-drinking and seat belt awareness program where high school students compete in a statewide T-shirt design contest. The shirts are distributed to participating schools.

Leftover funding is divided into the number of graduating seniors from schools that apply for the grant. Grants range between $90 for 15 students and $2,980 for 496 students.

“When you boil it right down, they don’t get lots of money, but it helps a lot,” said Claudia Hasselquist, coordinator of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program in Boise.

She said the program has grown steadily to 15,366 seniors participating this year from 105 schools. Statewide, about 72 percent of all seniors participate in the program.

The requirements are few, and include some form of underage drinking awareness, like an assembly, and an evaluation. In addition, the party must be held the day of graduation to deter keggers traditionally held on graduation night.

However, the schedule requirements keep some schools from participating in the grant program. Priest River couldn’t get a slot at Triple Play in time this year to meet the grant’s graduation night requirement, so the parent group chose to raise money in place of the grant and move the party to another night.

Few venues in Kootenai County cater to the parties, because students are required to be locked in to prevent drugs from slipping in.

The Kootenai County Fairgrounds has hosted parties before, but was unable this year because of a packed schedule. Silverwood is hosting its last senior group this year with Lake City High School. The park may reopen to senior parties, but would require multiple schools at a time to make full use of the park. The Resort also offers cruises on Lake Coeur d’Alene that typically last a few hours.

Triple Play in Hayden has become popular recently with area high schools, in addition to schools from Oregon, Washington and Montana. The park had its first senior party in 2001.

This year, Triple Play has been booked solid for graduation parties that started May 22 and wrap up this weekend. Four schools have already made reservations for next year.

But since the facility is rented out to one school at a time, some schools are turned down or rescheduled. Next year, the park is adding a hotel and water park that will be able to hold more than one school.

“We can accommodate more students, keep them isolated and switch, or run the whole thing in one shot,” said Mike Murphy, general manager.

A strong emphasis of security and strict rules are laid out before students enter the park. But instead of feeling locked down, many students were just happy to party – and be free of homework.

Murphy said participation from area schools is typically higher than the state average. Of Priest River’s 103 graduating seniors, 95 showed up Friday night, or about 90 percent.

“There’s a lot of people who would much rather be getting wasted than go to this,” said Mike Basford, 18, as he waited between frames with a few friends. “But I’m not one of them because I’m having fun.”

For others, old ways won’t likely be snuffed out by the dry alternative.

“These are fun and everything,” said Scott Hansen, 18, who was race-ready outside the go-kart arena. “But that’s a tradition that’s going to last forever. The senior kegger. I mean, I hope so, anyways.”

“Keg’s gonna happen,” he added before ducking a guard rail and snatching up a go-kart.

Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger, said the parties haven’t eliminated the kegger tradition, but calls related to keggers have become less frequent. He recalled an accident in July 1998 where three students died and four others were injured after their Ford Bronco crashed on Fernan Lake Road.

A victim’s family member said the group was camping, but Idaho State Police investigators found beer cans and no camping gear at the site.

“Times have changed,” said Wolfinger. “Before, they were tolerated and people looked the other way. But any more, people recognize it’s an issue we have to address.

“Maybe it was a tradition to have a kegger, but it’s not a tradition to lose a classmate on graduation night.”