Rumours about C.B.S. luau-grad party got out of hand, says father

A grad party, helped by the rumour mill, turned into an unexpected ordeal for a C.B.S. father and daughter, complete with a visit to the principal's office and a chat with local police.

Dennis Porter's daughter Velvet is graduating from Queen Elizabeth High School this year and asked her father if she could host a grad party. He operates a trucking company and owns a large piece of land in Conception Bay South.

At first his answer was no, but after some convincing and a promise the students would take care of some of the organization, he changed his mind.

Porter's daughter and her friends started selling $20 tickets at the school to the Hawaiian luau-themed party, which featured an outdoor tent with propane heaters and a DJ.

However, rumours started circulating at the school that it was massive keg party with liquor and beer — for mostly underage students — which Porter said was never the case.

"I guess it'd be with the tickets, I guess. Maybe the wording on the ticket wasn't right, but I think what my daughter and the group went and done, they went and copied tickets from past grads and in it, it said there was a possibility there could be some open liquor," Porter told CBC's On The Go.

This prompted the principal to get in touch with Porter to ask about the party. Porter explained there would be no liquor available to students and thought the issue was settled.

However, the day of the party the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary pulled up to his house.

"I had the RNC last Friday morning and the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation showed up, and the town showed up, and they came and gave me all the rules and regulations, which I was well aware of, and just asked me if I'd been speaking to a lawyer," said Porter.

"Just giving me basically the low-down on what I could face and told me that I had parent signatures where parents didn't really have the right to allow their kid to go where there was alcohol. There was no alcohol."

'There was no kegs'

Porter said that was never part of the plan, but he was a bit nervous when told there could be a $10,000 fine if he was found violating that rule.

He said police were allowed to search the tent and ensure there wasn't liquor on site for the kids, but Porter said he thinks undercover units were parked nearby the night of the party.

Velvet Porter said she was called in to the principal's office when word about the party started getting around and parents found out and called the school to complain.

She said the overall impression she was left with was he didn't want her to go ahead with the party, but she and her classmates were already looking forward to it and decided to go ahead with their plans.

Everything else was just overblown rumour, she said.

"Then the day of the party, the cops coming in and talking to us basically making false accusations of what was going to be at the party, which turned out to be nothing," she said.

"We had the DJ, we had the music, we had everyone here, but people asked about kegs and there was no kegs and that was one big false accusation."

Meanwhile, Porter said the party went off mostly without incident.

Porter said there was a complaint into police about the music being too loud. The RNC showed up to respond and they turned the music down. He said he had warned a lot of his neighbours about the plan and no one objected.

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District didn't comment specifically on the Porter party, but said when there are parties like this, they want their staff to be proactive if there are safety concerns.