Voyage of the Bored : Fillmore Graduates Find Night Spent on Paddle-Wheeler a Washout

It was planned as a glorious party, a graduation night cruise that would keep seniors from drinking and driving and mark the last gathering of Fillmore High School’s Class of 1991.

But by the time the party ground to a halt, bumping into the dock at Ports O’ Call Village in San Pedro shortly before 3 a.m. Friday, most of the 138 graduates on board were straining to get ashore.

The seniors and their chaperones had a litany of complaints: The boat took off late because the cruise operators had provided the wrong map. The paddle-wheeler was cramped and dusty. The dance floor was way too small.

Three card dealers, who were to operate a “fantasy casino,” at which the seniors were to bet at blackjack with pretend money, left with their tables before the boat left the dock because there were too many people on board.

But perhaps the most egregious error of all, some said, was the short supply of food, much of which had been eaten about 30 minutes after the three-hour cruise got underway.

“We got ripped off,” said senior Raul Ibarra of the communitywide effort that raised more than $9,500 to pay for the trip.

During the boisterous, two-hour bus ride from Fillmore, the ravenous graduates repeatedly were reassured that there would be plenty of food.

But later after the taco fillings ran out, leaving only stacks of yawning taco shells and a smattering of salsa, the students grew restive, although they left unfinished the trays of brownies brought out later.

“They forget we’re teen-agers. We’re pigs. We eat a lot,” Janie Mittan said.

“It’s definitely disappointing,” senior Brett Adams said. He said he had expected a larger, three-level boat similar to the one that last year’s graduates and two other schools had rented for a senior cruise, not the double-decker M.V. Princess.

“It was a good idea to stop us from drinking and driving,” Mirabelle Hernandez said. “But they built it up--and then this.”

By Friday afternoon one of the trip organizers had complained to West Coast Cruises, which arranged the trip. The company offered an apology to Fillmore High students and said they would work to make it up to them.

“We’ll do whatever we can to make the students happy,” West Coast Cruises Vice President Robert McLellan said. “We feel terrible about what happened.”

He said the company conducted eight cruises in Los Angeles on Friday night, and that the kind of problems experienced by the Fillmore group were unusual. “We’re as upset as the school is about it,” McLellan said.

Many of Fillmore’s 12,000 residents had banded together to raise money for the cruise to prevent the kind of tragedy that marred last year’s graduation. Senior James Anderson, 18, was killed in a car accident on a winding two-lane highway after he hitched a ride home from a post-graduation party.

Authorities said the driver of the car, Justin Neff, was legally drunk and under the influence of cocaine when the car crashed into a telephone pole. Neff was later sentenced to six years in prison.

The tragedy left the tightknit community reeling, and then brought it together to find a way to prevent a similar accident this June.

The idea for the cruise, dubbed Grad Night Live, was started “by people who were concerned after Jimmy died about what was going to happen on graduation night this June,” committee member Raelene Chaney said.

The Grad Night Live committee set simple ground rules: No alcohol would be served, and students had to sign a form allowing officials to search them for illicit substances before boarding the buses.

For several months, students, parents and Fillmore residents held fund-raisers and solicited donations to pay for the event, Chaney said.

The town raised more than enough money to pay for the event, including a senior class breakfast and the cruise, which cost about $34 per student. Money was left to help toward next year’s graduation party.

The piece de resistance to get seniors to sign up for the cruise was the grand prize of a 1991 Dodge Colt, donated by a local car dealer.

Senior Gabriela Avila won the car in a drawing held about 2:30 a.m. About 80 other prizes included pizzas, portable radios, video rental gift certificates and cash.

Prizes aside, some seniors seemed bitterly disappointed.

“They messed it up for us,” Miguel Lopez said.

Other graduates gamely tried to put the best face on the situation. Many crowded the floor and danced to a mix of rap, rock and Spanish-language popular music played by a deejay.

“It’s OK. They tried,” Edith Sanchez said. “It was free, at least.”

Dori Hooper, an employee of Mardi Gras Cruises, which owns the M.V. Princess, said her company had arranged for the food and that there was “plenty, plenty, plenty of food,” enough for 150 people.

Hooper also said the paddle-wheeler is an historic boat, built on Santa Catalina Island in 1924 by the Wrigley family and still in use for weddings and dinner parties.

“If they were expecting a big, modern, fancy yacht, I can understand their disappointment,” Hooper said.

Back in Fillmore, the students were met at Carl’s Jr. for the senior class breakfast by parents, cruise organizers and town dignitaries, including Mayor Scott Lee and Fire Chief Pat Askren.

Before the apology, organizers talked of a possible lawsuit and withholding more than $1,600 still owed to West Coast Cruises.

Later, Chaney said the committee must consult before deciding how to proceed. She said it would be difficult to get the graduates back together for another cruise, and that graduation night itself is over and done.

Many students and organizers agreed that the idea for the party was a good one and expressed hope that this year’s problems will not deter next year’s class from planning a Grad Night Live trip--maybe to Disneyland or Magic Mountain.

Even with the graduation night cruise, many of the seniors said other parties--some with alcohol--had been planned for tonight and Saturday.

Some seniors said they were planning to celebrate as soon as they got off the bus to help them rebound from their disappointment.

“We’re going to party at my house,” said graduate Raymond Vega, who invited students to drop by Friday morning. “We have to make up for this.”