ShawneeDispatch.com

shockednshawnee (Anonymous) says…

JagPride, your overall goal of stopping underage drinking is commendable. Your goal of suggesting adults, legal age, stop drinking in the form of abstinence is not your organizations mission or right. That steps over the boundaries and has intentions that are a choice. Yes this is America, land of the free, freedom of choice, not someone else's preferences being forced upon others. Unfortunately, you had your 15 minutes of fame; you were led down a path by sponsors who had ulterior motives. No parent was intoxicated that approached you, in fact he rarely drinks at all. A couple of comments for your organization: I suggest you start internally, as members of your organziation may be involved in “underaged” drinking. Start there. Second; get your facts straight, no money, repeat no money was used from school funds, taxes, or the PTA towards a cash bar. No money was derived for profit from the cash bar to be proceeds for the donation. The cash bar was on it's own. Cash bar means just that, it supports itself as people have a choice to either purchase a drink or not. No adult was intoxicated; everyone made appropriate arrangements for a designated driver. That is what responsible adults, legal age, do when we do have a drink. That is your lesson. When you are legal and can drink, remember those lessons. For now, I suggest focusing upon “underage” drinking and gaining the maturity and responsibility in life to do proper decisions, not try to intimidate and coerce others because they choose differently than your personal preferences in life. If that is your choice, great, we do not try to force you differently. Try respecting the same.

shockednshawnee (Anonymous) says…

Wow, I honestly can't believe that this is causing so much uproar. I struggle with understanding JAGprides position and involvement with Praire Ridge wanting an evening for adults. The PTA works endless hours for our children and let's face it the adults of these children are the one's volunteering and giving. We've taken the stance to not have our children go door to door selling items, but apparently we as adults can't have an evening of our own when being asked to donate more money for our school. This auction is to raise money for our school to provide extra activities for our children. Having a cash bar is the last relevant part of the picture. If you feel so strongly then don't go, but why would one protest the end result? Most of the children at Prairie Ridge don't even know what a cash bar is nor would even be told. The only reason one would know is due to all this “great” publicity. Take your efforts and put them towards issues that are important to your club, like underage drinking. Focus on the parents providing the alcohol to the minors, not the one's that hired babysitters so they could have a social evening and raise money for all the children at Prairie Ridge. All children benefit from this auction which is a very small percentage of parents that give….I would hate to see that end due to a group that unfortunately can't see the whole picture or end result.