Halloween party becomes a nightmare

Geez..... I hope the Elks wake up next time!

We are hoping Mr. Merryman will foot the bill for the security force provided by the City of Vallejo to contain what sounded like a near riot. How is it that 500 people showed up after the room was at capacity? Mr. Merryman, did you sell more tickets than the room could legally contain?

F - - - - - G animals. And should be treated as such.

Fed Up wrote:

We are hoping Mr. Merryman will foot the bill for the security force provided by the City of Vallejo to contain what sounded like a near riot. How is it that 500 people showed up after the room was at capacity? Mr. Merryman, did you sell more tickets than the room could legally contain?

did you read the article?The promoter lied.These people werent even from vallejo.

Fed Up wrote:

We are hoping Mr. Merryman will foot the bill for the security force provided by the City of Vallejo to contain what sounded like a near riot. How is it that 500 people showed up after the room was at capacity? Mr. Merryman, did you sell more tickets than the room could legally contain?

From what I got out of the article, Mr. Merryman (Elks) was not the promoter of this event.
How about directing your outrage towards the scumbag that put out flyers for the event and misrepresented himself when renting the facility for the "Chico alumni"?

More of Shay58's misguided and misunderstood youth?

The thing was advertised to be a college party, requiring college ID to get in.
The flyer passed around the Bay Area said it was at someplace called the Arena on Lincoln Road in Vallejo.
Everything about it was badly planned. But the main thing this story does is reinforce the fact that you cannot have an event with more than a half-dozen people in Vallejo without there being violence.
It's disheartening and disgusting.

My two sons who are in college attended the event. They were excited about going days before.Im saddened by the level of violence domonstrated at the party and Im thankful niether were hurt. Maybe there should have been more security but young people need more venues to entertain themselves. Partying in my early twenties brings me fond memories. I would like to see more activities for young people.

I would bet that Mr.Merryman figured that this was a big chance to rent out the lodge and make some much needed revenue for the Elk's Lodge.

Unfortunately, it also appears Mr. Merryman was a bit blinded by this opportunity and did not bother to investigate or look into the reputation of this so called promoter and his bogus "college party" event. Mr. Merryman acknowledged that he only had the promoter's first name...Hello, does that not raise a red flag?.

Anytime a so called promoter goes to hold an event in West Oakland, Richmond, Vallejo, East Palo Alto, as the host and/or city, you definitely need to investigate their background and prior history prior to agreeing to host the event. It is just common sense.

Otherwise, you get a "Ghetto Hoedown" with lots of violence. Doesn't the City of Vallejo have to issue a permit for such a large event??. If they don't than they should going foreward!!

Sounds like the Elks Lodge should cross their T's and dot their I's when renting their establishment.

Vallejo needs a skating rink or large arcade of some sort for young people. Organized events for all ages of people....and it could generate revenue for the locality!

Don't ya just love it any more! Friggen animals assume that part and parcel of a good party is violence.

Start requiring permits and armed security at any and all parties in Vallejo... even little Antone's birthday party!

Vallejo Mama wrote:

Sounds like the Elks Lodge should cross their T's and dot their I's when renting their establishment.
Vallejo needs a skating rink or large arcade of some sort for young people. Organized events for all ages of people....and it could generate revenue for the locality!

Years ago Vallejo used to have just that. There is now a church where the skating rink used to be. The same kind of stuff started happening then as is happening now, and the rink eventually went out of business or was shut down. As I remember, it got to be where the police were there all the time. Same thing happened up in Fairfield years ago where there was an arcade in back of the skating rink. Large crowds gathered and stuff just started going down all the time. It also eventually went out of business or was shut down.

Vallejo Mama wrote:

Sounds like the Elks Lodge should cross their T's and dot their I's when renting their establishment.
Vallejo needs a skating rink or large arcade of some sort for young people. Organized events for all ages of people....and it could generate revenue for the locality!

Here's an idea... why don't parents arrange for their own kids entertainment instead of demanding a special "venue" that will only attract more problems.

SayWhat wrote:

I would bet that Mr.Merryman figured that this was a big chance to rent out the lodge and make some much needed revenue for the Elk's Lodge.
Unfortunately, it also appears Mr. Merryman was a bit blinded by this opportunity and did not bother to investigate or look into the reputation of this so called promoter and his bogus "college party" event. Mr. Merryman acknowledged that he only had the promoter's first name...Hello, does that not raise a red flag?.
Anytime a so called promoter goes to hold an event in West Oakland, Richmond, Vallejo, East Palo Alto, as the host and/or city, you definitely need to investigate their background and prior history prior to agreeing to host the event. It is just common sense.
Otherwise, you get a "Ghetto Hoedown" with lots of violence. Doesn't the City of Vallejo have to issue a permit for such a large event??. If they don't than they should going foreward!!

I agree 100%.....what has happened to the Elks????? This is ridiculous and a disgrace to the history of the Elks Organization. It is unfortunate that their financial situation has found them renting out these type of events, but the lack of background research on the renter ("promoter") is UNACCEPTABLE. This will just cause your membership to fall even more!!! Shame on the leadership of the Elks

Heck Mare Island has a lot of empty buildings that can hold more than a thousand people. This problem once again points to the stagnant development in this city and I hope the upcoming election will change the people in government to fix that.

Clearly the "promoter" and who he represented should have been vetted better. Just being able to put up deposits and fees isn't enough. What Mr. Merryman may just be realizing, along with the throbbing liability headache he's got coming on, is that kids these days are highly connected AND mobile. A few cellphone calls and text messages, along with the apparent widespread distribution of flyers came into a perfect storm of party crashers, several of whom were packing heat.(Illegally) What's too bad is that more folks weren't arrested and the guns seized. Between the lines the message getting out it that Vallejo is a great place to go party crashing with your homies and your guns. Great Message. Really Cool. Bummer for the Elks, though, who now probably won't even rent out to the annual Model Railroaders Association Locomotive Trade Fair, for fear of a repeat occurrence. Freaking train enthusiasts. Always starting something.

Goombahs coming all the way from 'Frisco to a party in Vallejo? WTF?

What The efff?

Marley wrote:

More of Shay58's misguided and misunderstood youth?

LOL, but probably TRUE too! "Know what eye'm sayin? Sheeee mo fo, peace out."

Ooops, ah fo-gotted - "Mmm, mmm, mmm!"