Tapping into responsible drinking

How parishes keep their festivals safe

By Cheri Perkins Mantz Catholic Herald Staff

A visitor to the St. Florian Parish Festival in West Milwaukee enjoys a beer May 19. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Lucero) MILWAUKEE — The booming music of a cover band beckons from blocks away. A couple in cowboy boots two-steps in front of the stage. Game vendors call, “Step right up” to passersby. It’s a church festival, and during the spring and summer throughout southeastern Wisconsin, there is at least one almost every weekend. It’s usually the biggest fund-raiser for a parish. Modern festivals have come a long way from bobbing for apples after Sunday Mass. Today’s festivals often have music, food, games, rides, raffles and alcohol. But do parish festivals promote responsible drinking? St. Aloysius in West Allis implements the Safe Ride Program, sponsored by the Tavern League of Wisconsin and American United Taxicab. Mike Swanson, festival chair, said they feel strongly about providing the program to their festival-goers. “If a person comes up to us and says they think they drank too much and can’t drive home, or if any of my bartenders or security see a person they feel has had too much to drink, number one, we stop serving them. Number two, we offer them a ride home,” said Swanson. “The taxi will take them home and bring them back the next day.” The customer is responsible only if the fare is more than $8. Swanson said he posts signs advertising this at his festival and informs all bartenders and security personnel about it. Advertisements for the festival also mention the designated driver program. “We feel it’s our responsibility to offer this to our patrons,” Swanson said about the program the parish implemented seven years ago. St. Veronica, Milwaukee, has had a weekend festival for the last 47 years, drawing 6,000-8,000 patrons annually. According to Fred Czuta, festival co-chair for 15 years, festivals can be a huge liability, especially when beer is served. Jeff Westphal pours beer from a tap at the St. Florian Parish Festival in West Milwaukee May 19. (Catholic Herald photo by Sam Lucero) “We have licensed bartenders and we card everybody,” said Czuta. “There’s laws that we follow, but we go above and beyond.” Drunk driving is another thing about which the festival committee at St. Veronica is concerned. “If someone got to the point where they should be off the premises (due to intoxication), we want them to get home safe,” he said. Like St. Aloysius, St. Veronica also implements the Safe Ride Program. The person is given a coupon for a taxi ride home, and even given another coupon to take a taxi to return to the festival and get his or her car the next morning. According to Czuta, the festival has an organized designated driver program, but he is not optimistic that it is used properly. For $2 designated drivers are given free soda all night. They also wear buttons that indicate they are designated drivers. “Does the designated driver program work? I don’t think so, honestly,” explained Czuta. “People who don’t drink take advantage of it. It’s a good program, but it can be taken advantage of.” Czuta also enforces the policy that no bartenders may drink while they are serving. “ I don’t want someone half-inebriated serving beer,” he said. Church festivals are a large undertaking. According to Czuta, with permits required for food, beer, parking, noise, sanitation and more, the parish must secure 14 different permits for each festival. Czuta also hires security guards and has uniformed police patrolling. “We also send letters to the police department in advance to let them know about it,” he said. “Gosh, you have to do that. “You can’t open unless you meet certain criteria,” Czuta explained. “I work on this event 10-11 months a year. How can we improve? How can we make more money? I’m really proud of our festival. It’s really safe and clean.” St. Dominic Parish, Brookfield, draws about 5,000 people over three days, according to chair, John Engel. To put a damper on excessive drinking and underage drinking, Engel depends upon police officer parishioners who bartend undercover. “No one gets over-served,” said Engel. “In all our years, we’ve never been cited, shut down or had restrictions put on us.” Know your bartenders Another way Engel tries to keep the drinking under control is by hiring responsible bartenders that he can vouch for himself. “My bartenders, basically; people can’t just sign up,” Engel explained. “I know everyone who is bartending. Lots have been doing it for 10 years. They’re seasoned. They’re instructed, by all means, to cut people off and get the police department involved.” While Engel said St. Dominic’s festival has no formal designated driver program, he said there have been instances over the years where keys were taken away from an intoxicated person. “But it’s always been someone we know and we make sure they get home,” he said. St. Dominic doesn’t have a midway with rides, and Engel claims that, and the 11 p.m. closing time, help squelch excessive and underage drinking. “We don’t make a big deal out of drinking at our festival,” he said. “We promote a family atmosphere so you don’t have to worry about people getting drunk or using bad language. The beer is there, but we don’t push it. “I’m proud that we’ve never been written up for disorderly conduct or drunk driving.” Proper instruction St. Gregory the Great hosts another large festival in Milwaukee. Festival committee member Bill Klar admitted that festivals are large risks for parishes. “They’re great for fundraising, but they’re big risks. You hire bands, rent tents, hope it doesn’t rain,” he said. Since St. Greg’s festival isn’t until September, they are still in the preliminary planning stages. In fact, this year the committee is looking at ways to prevent drunk driving by anyone who attends its festival. “There are a number of ways that will be addressed at our next meeting,” said Klar. “We’re very concerned about the issue and it’s something that we’re actively looking at.” The beer tents at St. Greg’s must have at least one licensed bartender working at all times. Some of the servers get temporary bartending licenses; some have permanent licenses. According to Klar, they are all instructed in the same way. “We say if you aren’t comfortable with someone, you can (refuse to serve them) and the supervisors will back up the decision,” said Klar. “It doesn’t even have to be someone slurring their speech. We will refuse services. I think that’s being consistent with other festivals. One of the things we’re looking at is wristbanding. When someone comes on the grounds, they’re ID’d by security and a wristband is put on. This elminates someone of age buying alcohol and sneaking it to someone who’s underage.” Like St. Dominic’s, Klar said St. Greg’s also depends upon off-duty police officer parishioners who work security and at the beer tents. They also hire outside security. When it comes to the possibility of drunk driving after their festival, Klar said, “We’re very aware and concerned and we’re reviewing it to make sure we’re minimizing the potential.” Help from the community Many times a municipality might try to combat excessive drinking. The West Allis Police Department crime prevention unit meets with all festival bartenders in West Allis. According to Lieutenant Robert Navarrette, the department feels it’s important to meet with bartenders to make sure they are aware of their responsibilities. “We need to give the bartenders information to make sure the festival is run safely,” said Navarrette. “We need to tell them about the laws of serving intoxicated people and the liability. We don’t want the fest not to go on because something bad happened.” According to Navarrette, a two and a half page document lists things the police department discusses with festival bartenders. They include civil liability bartenders may face, they describe the new look of drivers licenses and how to tell if they’ve been altered, they restate the rule of two beers served to a person at one time, they are instructed not to give out pitchers or trays of beer, and not to serve anyone who is visibly intoxicated. The officers also promote the designated driver program. Bartenders are instructed to have a bar monitor in the crowd around the bar. This monitor can better see what’s going on in front of the bar, since the bartenders are often busy filling cups. Navarrette said everyone behind the bar should have at least a temporary bartender’s license — another reason they do this training. “They’re not always familiar with bar rules since they have a temporary license,” he said. Drunk driving is also something about which festival bartenders should be concerned. “In our program it says you could be held responsible, meaning the bartenders,” he said. “It depends on the situation.” Busy, attentive workers Attend one church festival and it’s obvious that the bartenders at these events can be the busiest people. Rick Bell has been a volunteer bartender at St. Florian, West Milwaukee, for six years. “It’s just fun being with people,” he said. Bell, who does not have a bartending license, said that St. Florian festival bartenders are trained. “They have police give everyone tending bar a class for what to look for in underage people,” said Bell. “We don’t serve someone if they look like they’ve had too much.” Bell said that he has cut people off, but it doesn’t happen often. He thought possibly one or two people during the whole weekend of bartending. Gloria Gardner has taken the bartending class at MATC to get licensed for her role as bartender at St. Florian, which holds a festival in spring and another in summer. She also said she’s been instructed to cut people off. “We really have had no problems the last couple years I’ve been here,” she said. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee understands the importance of the parish festival as a fund-raiser. In 1992, Archbishop Emeritus Rembert G. Weakland sent a letter to pastors and festival chairpersons requesting that alcohol not be given away as prizes at festivals. In a letter dated May 20, 1992, he wrote that the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council requests: “That parishes refrain from using alcohol products as prizes or giveaways at parish sponsored fund-raising activities.” According to Kathleen Hohl, spokesperson for the archdiocese, this is not necessarily a rule, just a policy recommended by the then-archbishop. In addition, Catholic Mutual Group, an insurance company, distributed guidelines for parish festivals. Included in the guidelines is: “Parishes should be aware that they are potentially liable for property damage or injury claims resulting from individuals that became intoxicated at a parish festival.” It is also recommended that: “A pre-existing plan should exist to handle individuals who have had too much to drink. The plan should include the necessary security to assist the bartender who is refusing service to an intoxicated individual, along with providing alternate methods of transportation to individuals who feel they are too intoxicated to drive their vehicles.” The insurance company reiterated Archbishop Weakland’s point: “Alcohol should not be given away as a prize.” However, many parish festivals do give alcohol away as a prize. Most do not allow the alcohol to be opened on church grounds. One festival allows winners to pick their liquor prize up only on their way out of the festival. St. Greg’s festival takes the liquor prize one step further. “Rather than handing (the liquor) right over, you get a certificate to pick up your prize at a liquor store another day,” said Klar. “If someone has hard liquor on our grounds, it was smuggled in, not provided by us.”