“A Climate of Tolerance”

Door County has a drinking problem, or at least that’s the consensus that came out of a forum on underage drinking held June 3 at the Sister Bay Town Hall.

According to Pam Hirn, an Alcohol or Drug Abuse counselor with the Door County Department of Community Programs, the social environment in the area alters perceptions about alcohol use.

For instance, she said there is one tavern for every 1,400 people nationwide, but one for every 350 in Wisconsin, which consumes more alcohol than any other state per capita. In Door County, that number drops to one in 126, nearly double the prevalence in the rest of the state.

“This skews a person’s view of what is normal drinking,” Hirn says.

The forum, organized by Pastor Michael Brecke, featured a panel of Hirn, Door County Board Chairman Charlie Most, Door County Tavern League President Bob Geitner, and Pastor Bruce Foster. Most acted as moderator of the forum and said Sheriff Terry Vogel was invited but could not attend and declined to send a representative.

The event’s purpose was to discuss why so many young people turn to alcohol and to seek solutions to the problem, but it soon became a discussion of the larger community’s attitude toward drinking.

“I don’t come down for Fall Fest anymore,” Foster said. “I’m not so interested in seeing so many people so intoxicated anymore.”

Foster said he’s distressed by the parenting he sees today in which under-age drinking is often condoned and alcohol is a staple of area activities.

“I’m not prohibitionist,” he said. “But not every social event has to be alcohol-related.”

Allen Musikantow said he currently holds 27 liquor licenses in 10 states and once held as many as 150. He’s fed up with the community’s acceptance of irresponsible serving.

“I don’t know how this community isn’t incredibly angry with places that serve alcohol to under-agers,” he said. “What are the consequences? Where is the sheriff?”

The question of consequences for serving and selling to under-age drinkers was voiced by many in the audience of more than 50 Northern Door residents.

Last September Dave Brandt’s 20 year-old daughter Amanda died in an alcohol-related car accident after drinking at the Mink River Basin. Her blood-alcohol content was .27, more than three times the legal limit, but Brandt said local law enforcement refused to issue a citation for over-serving.

He believes the town of Liberty Grove and the sheriff’s department missed an opportunity to send a message when they didn’t discipline the server or the establishment.

Most, who vacated his seat as Liberty Grove Town Chairman in April, said the town’s hands are tied by state regulations and legal hurdles.

“We looked into [stripping licenses] pretty hard, but it’s difficult to do,” he said.

Several people echoed Brandt’s complaints, wondering why municipalities don’t strip liquor licenses from establishments guilty of serving under-age drinkers.

Most said bars have ways around that, such as applying for a license under the name of a different agent. Another target of the audience was the sheriff’s department. Most said the county has addressed the issue with Sheriff Vogel, and Geitner said the department has stepped up enforcement. But only one establishment, the Hitching Post, has been cited for serving under-age patrons since last September.

Geitner, who owns Mr. G’s Logan Creek Grill, said the Tavern League works hard to educate members in serving responsibly and believes things have improved dramatically in recent years.

“The laws are getting stricter and tougher and that’s good,” the veteran of 40 years behind the bar said. He feels those laws are being enforced, but he hears from under-age kids that they have no problem getting alcohol. Geitner said the Tavern League would like to see fines for violations increased and said he will personally lobby for it.

Most urged the audience to cut their local officials some slack and said the biggest problem with alcohol abuse is that the community tolerates it. He urged people to call the police if they know the law is being broken.

“That’s the only way they’re going to come,” he said.

County board representative Hugh Mulliken urged audience members to fill out the county’s online survey and let the sheriff know how they feel about the department’s handling of alcohol abuse issues.

A link to the survey is available on the county’s Web site at http://www.co.door.wi.gov. It will be available through Aug. 31.

Hirn said the prevalence of alcohol advertising has desensitized the public to the harmful effects of drinking. Those effects include the deaths of 5,000 people under the age of 21 in alcohol-related accidents each year.

“We need to send a consistent message that under-age drinking and drug use will not be tolerated,” she said.

Gibraltar Town Chairman Merrell Runquist pointed to the demand side of the problem, telling the crowd kids don’t drink alcohol because they don’t like it, but because “it is a hell of a lot of fun.”

“How do we replace that with something else?” he asked.

Mary Kay Shumway, who lost her 19 year-old niece Karen Teskie in the same accident that took the life of Amanda Brandt, mentioned the same concern.

“There’s very little to do for 13-17 year-old kids,” she said.

Those kids, Most said, are only a “mirror of society,” a point Jeff Weborg expanded on.

“We have fostered a climate of tolerance,” Weborg said. “Not our children, we have.”