If Drinking Is Part of Holiday Parties, Plan for the Worst

Alcoholic beverages were conspicuous by their absence Friday night at a well-known organization’s dinner, but they would have been far more conspicuous had they been present--considering that the group was the county chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

“We want people to realize you can have a wonderful time without having to get drunk,” chapter president Sherry Metcalfe said.

About 250 MADD supporters sipped water, coffee and soft drinks with their chicken and steak dinners at the Catch, a restaurant in Anaheim.

The no-alcohol tradition began last year with the county MADD’s first community recognition dinner, after which “there were no complaints,” executive director Janet Cater said. “In fact, there were compliments.”

Both Cater and Metcalfe were quick to point out, however, that MADD is not a temperance organization. “We’re not saying, ‘Don’t drink at all,’ ” Metcalfe said. “We’re saying, ‘Don’t drink at all and drive .’ ”

For those who do offer alcohol at parties, Cater said forethought is essential: “Plan how you are going to deal with the alcohol issue.”

Hosts who have not considered the possibility beforehand may not know how to deal with a guest who has too much to drink. “When you have a problem is when you don’t plan,” she said.

“Make sure you have options,” Metcalfe added. “You don’t have to just have alcoholic beverages. It’s becoming more and more socially acceptable to choose something non-alcoholic.”

Even if traditional party libations had been available, only the most brazen driver would have dared take the chance Friday--with nearly 40 police officers attending to receive honors for their diligence in arresting drunk drivers.

Officers Marty Carver and Scott May of the Costa Mesa Police Department led the field, with 586 drunk-driving arrests between them during a 6-month period. Carver and May said those numbers do not mean that Costa Mesa has a particularly bad problem with drunk driving.

“We just really enjoy our work,” Carver said.

“We totally dedicate ourselves to this,” May said. “We just love to go out there and seek and destroy.”

And then there was the evening’s featured speaker, Superior Court Judge David O. Carter, who has sent many a drunk driver to jail.

“By the time the courts get involved, it’s too late,” Carter told the gathering. “We cannot bring back life or repair injuries. We will always fail where you will succeed” in preventing alcohol-related accidents.

One of Carter’s successes, alcoholism counselor Roy Alvarado, made a point of seeking out Carter in the crowd.

“I wanted to thank him,” Alvarado said. “He sent me to jail 4 years ago. Thanks to him, I was able to turn my life around.”

In addition to his new career in counseling alcohol and drug addicts, Alvarado is working as a volunteer with MADD’s new outreach program in Latino areas.

The $30-a-person banquet was a “friend-raiser” rather than a fund-raiser, Cater said. “If we raise some money, that will be nice, but it isn’t the most important thing.”