Post by osprey on May 22, 2007 12:17:32 GMT -5
This certainly sounds like an "other fun thing on the water" ;D
From the outdoor wire today...
This weekend, Florida officials are getting ready for what has become an annual debacle, "The White Trash Bash."
Appropriately enough titled, it's a Memorial Day weekend celebration that's expected to bring as many as 500 boats and 700-900 people to a Cove at Dog Island, across Apalachee Bay, about a seven-mile run from the Franklin County mainland and Carrabelle.
Partying is the order of the day at the White Trash Bash
The crowd will get together to celebrate the weekend by cooking out, swimming, and partying. This is hard partying, so law enforcement officials are concerned, as they have been each year, that the north Florida and south Georgia residents will over-indulge and someone will pay the ultimate price.
"We want people to enjoy themselves but do it safely," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Capt. Donald Duval. "That means without excessive alcohol or any drugs."
Duval, who heads up the FWC's Carrabelle field office and oversees law enforcement operations in the six easternmost Panhandle counties, said 14 boaters were arrested during the event last year for boating under the influence (BUI), one for DUI, and a number were charged with drug offenses.
This year, the same coalition of law enforcement agencies will be out working the water again. The group includes the FWC, Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Florida Highway Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
"The sheriff's office is even making a van and a driver available so they can quickly transfer suspects to jail, and officers can get back out on the water," Duval says. The first offender can expect fines of up to $500.
If a boat operator is involved in a serious injury or fatality accident, they face felony charges and possible jail time. In short, it is an event that may start out as fun, but the dangerous mix of alcohol, sun and boats can turn into a toxic cocktail. Other recreational chemicals have even more lethal potential.
The White Trash Bash is really nothing more than young people being young people, but it's not an event Florida officials are looking forward to. The state has already had 32 confirmed boating fatalities since January 1, making this one of the deadliest boating years on record.
For that reason, officials will be out in force this weekend, working in an effort to control what has a reputation of being one of the most uninhibited parties of the summer.
Like enforcement officers everywhere, they're hoping people will keep the toxic combinations of drugs, liquor, sun, water and boats separate. But they realize that's probably a misplaced hope.
From the outdoor wire today...
This weekend, Florida officials are getting ready for what has become an annual debacle, "The White Trash Bash."
Appropriately enough titled, it's a Memorial Day weekend celebration that's expected to bring as many as 500 boats and 700-900 people to a Cove at Dog Island, across Apalachee Bay, about a seven-mile run from the Franklin County mainland and Carrabelle.
Partying is the order of the day at the White Trash Bash
The crowd will get together to celebrate the weekend by cooking out, swimming, and partying. This is hard partying, so law enforcement officials are concerned, as they have been each year, that the north Florida and south Georgia residents will over-indulge and someone will pay the ultimate price.
"We want people to enjoy themselves but do it safely," said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Capt. Donald Duval. "That means without excessive alcohol or any drugs."
Duval, who heads up the FWC's Carrabelle field office and oversees law enforcement operations in the six easternmost Panhandle counties, said 14 boaters were arrested during the event last year for boating under the influence (BUI), one for DUI, and a number were charged with drug offenses.
This year, the same coalition of law enforcement agencies will be out working the water again. The group includes the FWC, Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Florida Highway Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.
"The sheriff's office is even making a van and a driver available so they can quickly transfer suspects to jail, and officers can get back out on the water," Duval says. The first offender can expect fines of up to $500.
If a boat operator is involved in a serious injury or fatality accident, they face felony charges and possible jail time. In short, it is an event that may start out as fun, but the dangerous mix of alcohol, sun and boats can turn into a toxic cocktail. Other recreational chemicals have even more lethal potential.
The White Trash Bash is really nothing more than young people being young people, but it's not an event Florida officials are looking forward to. The state has already had 32 confirmed boating fatalities since January 1, making this one of the deadliest boating years on record.
For that reason, officials will be out in force this weekend, working in an effort to control what has a reputation of being one of the most uninhibited parties of the summer.
Like enforcement officers everywhere, they're hoping people will keep the toxic combinations of drugs, liquor, sun, water and boats separate. But they realize that's probably a misplaced hope.
??