thanks, Orange Crush, for vindicating me

Wondering what the big topic of conversation was tonight at Jalapenos?

Was it the schedule of fundraising golf tournaments that are coming up for the Georgia Sheriffs' Association Youth Homes?

Nope, but that was a brief topic between Smitty and me.

I'm hoping he will share it with his Sunday afternoon golf buddies.

I know they've already done some fundraising golf tourneys for other charities.

That would be a good thing for Smitty, now that he's retired!

 

What about the upcoming graduations this year of two of our nephews?

Well, Tony and Laura started that one, talking about her youngest son, Noah.

That will be in Missouri.

So I brought up that Merritt will also be graduating!

Moreover, he's completed specialized courses in agriculture and will have an award ceremony in two weeks, with him receiving a special cord to wear over his graduation gown.

How cool is that?

All the fellows at the table perked up for that!

And just where is that graduation to occur?

In Alabama, as that's where the Beaufort boys have lived the last few years.

I'm thinking about going, but it will depend on when it is.

 

Both of those were topics discussed, but the big one was all about Orange Crush.

That's an unofficial reunion of graduates from Savannah State University that's been going on for a little over thirty years.

How do I know that?

Paperwork.

Official paperwork.

In 1991, which was the first year of the event, the organizers of Orange Crush, essentially a last party for the new graduates and maybe some alumni, did the right thing and applied for a permit with Tybee Island to host the gathering down at the beach.

The government of the city of Tybee Island granted the permission and all apparently went so well that attendees wanted to do it again the next year.

So they did...

with more new graduates and alumni invited to the party...

but with no permit for the event.

That means they didn't pay for extra security, they didn't pay for extra sanitation, they didn't pay for clean up.

Nope.

They left all of those expenses for the taxpayers of Tybee Island.

Then they did it again the year after that, and then again, and then again, continuing for THIRTY-TWO YEARS, with the crowd exponentially growing.

That was a mistake on the part of the organizers.

After the huge mess left last year (in 2023), a bill was brought before the Georgia Congress to put a halt to unpermitted events ANYWHERE IN GEORGIA.

I feel so vindicated.
For months in 2019, I took great care to make sure our SERMACS event at Morrell Park was totally permitted, including the hiring of extra security, obtaining insurance to cover any damages that might occur during our event, getting volunteers to help, and taking care to thoroughly clean the park after our event and remove all trash.
As I said, the folks associated with organizing Orange Crush only took that responsible route one time, back in 1991. After that, no one bothered to get the event permitted. They just took over Tybee Island Beach the third weekend of April every year.
Orange Crush held an unpermitted event there for 32 years before someone at Tybee got politicians involved.
And involved they have been, too.
The Georgia Congress, both House and Senate, Republican and Democrat alike, and working together with amazing speed, almost unanimously passed a law (Senate Bill 433) that now holds the organizers of unpermitted events DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for extra costs incurred by the community where that event was held.

Good for them.
If this new law had been in effect in 2023, the promoters of Orange Crush would have been DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for paying the $187,520 that the city had to pay for expanded public safety measures, including the overtime for city police and fire rescue staff, additional ambulance service, portable bathrooms, extra lighting, and other expenses.
That sounds completely reasonable to me.
Our event, which planned for about three hundred people to come to Morrell Park, involved our payment of overtime for two city police officers for crowd control for the three hours of our event, including setup.
The promoters for Orange Crush 2023, which had more than 100,000 people show up (as verified by AI that monitors cell phone use in an area), paid for none during the three days of their time at Tybee Island.

We cleaned up after ourselves, making sure that everything we brought into the park, including any trash generated, was carried out with us.
The promoters for Orange Crush 2023 left the beach and streets littered with trash.

Our event was timed to not interfere with traffic patterns in downtown Savannah, including normal Saturday morning traffic on River Street.
Orange Crush 2023 tied up traffic between Savannah and Tybee, as well as in Tybee and the residential Island neighborhoods along Highway 80, for at least 72 hours.

Whoever is in charge of continuing Orange Crush needs to do so responsibly, paying the costs needed to respect the tax-paying citizens of Tybee, as those citizens have been held responsible for 32 years, and are not willing to do so any longer, nor should they ever have been expected to do so.
My advice to those promoters of such events: Just follow the rules.
It's that simple.
Why do you think I volunteered to take care of that for the 2019 SERMACS?
Because I was familiar with the rules, and I am a native Savannahian.
I respect Savannah, as a taxpayer myself, and wanted to make sure to not burden the city with any costs for our National Chemistry Week event.
Good for me.

Good for the local ACS section for following my lead, even though I was already retired and no longer at the university.
Good for the National ACS for supplying all the materials for our experiments and good for them, and the City of Savannah, for providing giveaway science items for the event.

Good times!