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Homecoming Party Ends With Host Parent In Custody

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HEATHER ALLEN and KEVIN DALE / Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: October 17, 2007

ROTONDA WEST - Barbara Jo Robinson says that if she could do it again, she would return the $93 to the 20 or so Lemon Bay High School students who gathered in her home after Saturday's homecoming dance.

Instead, she collected the cash, drove to Wal-Mart and returned with wine coolers and cases of beer: the fuel for what would escalate into a beer bash that stretched into Sunday morning and attracted as many as 100 high-schoolers, the majority from Lemon Bay High.

"My intention, even though it was a grave mistake, was to have a small gathering and to provide a safe place" for her daughter, Heather, 17, and classmates, said Robinson, 51.

"I guess word of mouth got out."

Robinson was arrested Monday and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and hosting an open house party for minors, both misdemeanors.

Robinson said nearly 100 teenagers flocked to her Pinehurst Court home. Charlotte County Sheriff's Office deputies' estimate was 60.

Robinson said she confiscated the car keys of her daughter's roughly two dozen friends and prepared beds for them so they could spend the night. The teenagers were sleeping when deputies arrived just before 6 a.m. Sunday, Robinson said.

"She had good intentions, but she didn't think about this thing in the long run," sheriff's spokesman Bob Carpenter said.

Deputies responded when neighbor Herb Waterous called about the party, which started shortly after the homecoming dance ended at 11 p.m.

Waterous awoke about 4:30 a.m. Sunday to a heated argument across the street. He said he could see about 15 teenagers in Robinson's driveway and several cars parked in the neighboring vacant lot.

When deputies searched the home, they found evidence that "cases upon cases" of beer had been consumed, Carpenter said. Beer cans were scattered in the yard, where they remained Tuesday.

"It was quite a party," Carpenter said.

Deputies called the guests' parents. They allowed the sober teenagers to drive themselves home, according to Robinson's arrest report.

The sheriff's office did not release the names of the guests, who were not cited for underage drinking, Carpenter said.

Robinson's arrest highlights the continuing need to educate parents about the risks of underage drinking, said Amity Chandler, director of Drug Free Charlotte County, the county's anti-drug coalition.

Just last week, the coalition launched an "OK to say no" campaign to convince parents that underage drinking is dangerous. Bulk mailings were sent to parents, and radio spots will air.

"We're slow to change the attitude that kids are safe when they drink at home, when it's not safe to drink at all," Chandler said.

At the beginning of this school year, Drug Free Charlotte County surveyed more than 4,000 of the county's high school students.

The results, which were not broken out by school, show that 8 percent of students were obtaining alcohol from their parents; 5 percent were getting it from a friend's parents, Chandler said.

A number of parents still subscribe to the notion that teenagers are going to drink, so parents might as well allow it in the safety of their home, the survey indicates.

"When we say, 'They're going to do it anyway,' we're really selling our kids short," Chandler said. "It's a cop-out."

Robinson will have to pay a fine for hosting the party, which her daughter's friends have offered to cover. She said the teenagers have been supportive and have called to apologize.

Robinson said she was remorseful and realized she had made a mistake, a "big one."

"It's been a learning experience for all of us," she said. "Hopefully, a lot of other parents who have done the same thing will not do it anymore. I can only hope."

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