Members of the newly formed MADD 4 MHD gather at Devereux Beach, the same spot where Savanah Gatchell’s memorial was held last month. CURRENT PHOTOS / LEIGH BLANDER
When Cynthia Belmer heard about the crash that killed 13-year-old Savanah Gatchell last month, she couldn’t sleep at all that night. She stayed up researching ways to prevent another tragedy.
Belmer, who has three young children, and other local moms have formed a group, MADD 4 MHD, to address drinking and driving in town.
“My husband was born and raised here, and he lost one or two of his classmates in a similar way,” Belmer told the Current. “Knowing that my kids are going to be exposed to this town culture, I had to do something.”
Belmer discovered two laws that she hopes will encourage teens to call for help rather than engage in unsafe behaviors, including drinking and driving.
“Kids need to be informed about these laws,” Belmer said. “They need to be encouraged to speak up. I’m hoping to make a tiny difference. If I can change one person’s mind, that will be amazing.”
Belmer created a flyer about the laws that was handed out at the Marblehead High School parents night last week and at Friday’s football game.
Elloree Jennings, a mom and Veterans School teacher, is also very involved. She knew Gatchell and has been heartbroken by her death. The tragedy has motivated Jennings to take a leading role in changing the drinking-and-driving culture in town. She is coordinating volunteers to post pink ribbons around Marblehead in Gatchell’s memory.
Jennings’ daughter, Holland, was in Gatchell’s class and knew her. Holland is working with her mom on MADD 4 MHD. She says drinking and driving is “pretty common” among Marblehead teens.
“They think it’s cool, or that it makes them look cool,” Holland said. “I want to make sure teens understand what can happen — that you can get really hurt or hurt someone else.”
Callie McLaughlin, 13, agrees that drinking and driving is “too normalized” in town.
“It is a problem, and we need to teach kids about it,” she said.
One early initiative MADD 4 MHD is working on is asking the town to enforce laws against drinking (by students and parents) at high school sporting events.
Before Friday’s football game, MHS Principal Michele Carlson sent an email to families reminding them “outside beverages, large bags and backpacks are not allowed at the game.”
Anyone interested in getting involved with MADD 4 MHD can contact madd4mhd@gmail.com.
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Hundreds of people came to Devereux Beach to celebrate the life of 13-year-old Savanah Gatchell, who died in a crash in August. A 16-year-old driver is accused of operating under the influence of alcohol.
People tossed flowers into the ocean to honor Savanah Gatchell, killed in a crash by an allegedly drunk 16-year-old.
Board of Health response
At a Sept. 9 meeting, BoH Chair Dr. Tom Massaro introduced a multi-step proposal to address the issues of mental health and substance abuse in town. The steps include meeting in small groups to learn more about the problems and then involving a broader audience of stakeholders.
proposed a three-step plan to address the issues of mental health and substance abuse in town. The steps include forming small groups to learn more about the problem, researching and then involving a broader audience of stakeholders.
BoH member Tom McMahon shared a personal statement about Marblehead’s drinking culture.
“‘Marblehead, a drinking town with a sailing problem.’ Many of us, including me, have found this phrase humorous. We even sell T-shirts and stickers depicting it. Over the past decade or so, though, I stopped finding this phrase amusing. In fact, I see it as us celebrating a part of our town that has caused lasting damage to many and sends the wrong message to our youth.
To be clear, I lived this phrase for much of my young adult life, including while I was in Marblehead High School. I look back though and realize how lucky I was to make it through that phase in my life unharmed. Drinking to excess, with everyone else. Driving both a car and a boat while under the influence, again with everyone else. I did it all, with everyone else. When tragedy hits, it’s often followed with a stigma where the person responsible was being reckless and making poor choices, and I don’t think that’s wrong. However, in a town with a drinking culture like ours, the stigma is really just ‘luck.’ I was ‘lucky’ to not be the victim of tragedy. I certainly had plenty of opportunities to be that victim. I’d say the same for virtually every single person I know in town. I also know some that weren’t ‘lucky.’ None of the ones I know were bad people or did anything that me, my friends or many others in town didn’t do. They just were unlucky that day. That’s the difference between them and the rest of us.
In my late 30s, I stopped ‘feeling’ the drinking culture we have. Within the past couple of years, it wouldn’t be odd for me to go a month or two without a single drink. Did I have less fun as I weaned off? No. If anything, I was WAY more productive. I had toyed with the idea for a while of just stopping all together. Why? My kids. I have a 3-year-old and a 9-month-old. I thought maybe if they never saw their dad drink ever, while still having a good time, maybe they wouldn’t fall into the same culture that I did. I decided my friend’s wedding this past Memorial Day weekend was going to be the last day. Friends of mine slowly found out, and then you’d hear the little comments. ‘Hey Tom, when you come by this weekend, are you gonna be lame?’ By ‘be lame,’ what they meant was, ‘Are you not going to drink?’ Now granted, these are my friends just giving me a hard time, but my kids were right there when they said it.
It just made me really think. What message are we sending our kids? If you don’t drink, then you’re ‘lame’? I stopped because I knew my audience. My daughter and my son. I think we all need to take a step back and realize that we all have an audience actively watching us, and it’s our youth. They see us have a few drinks when we’re out to dinner then drive everyone home. They know when we’ve been out drinking and came home in our own car. They see the drinking on the boats and at yacht clubs. They see it when we’re with our friends at parties. They’re watching and forming opinions on what’s acceptable and what’s not when it comes to drinking activities.
I have a friend with kids older than mine that made an interesting point. ‘The last time a kid died drinking and driving in town, he was celebrated as a “great youth sports athlete,” and not a single person said he died drinking and driving. Moments of silence, banners, golf tournaments, youth basketball tournaments, bumper stickers, opening day speeches … not a single time was I there and anyone said, “This is because of drinking and driving.” In my eyes, the community handled the situation all wrong. It was a cautionary tale that was swept under the rug.’
I think he’s right. And to that, I’d ask why? Why are we whitewashing the truth of the story for our youth? It’s not helping them make better decisions. And telling the truth doesn’t make the victim a bad person or show they accomplished less. Again, they were unlucky. I’ve often heard, even from school administration, that we have to be worried about triggering the kids. I can’t stand the word ‘triggered.’ Is this why we don’t tell the truth? Because I can tell you as a student who walked the MHS halls as a senior when one of these tragedies took place, NOTHING is more triggering than when it happens. And I don’t think hiding reality from students helps. In fact, I think it only acts as an enabler for it to happen again.
I commend the School Committee and Jenn Shaeffner stepping up to try and address the drinking problem we have with our youth in town. I love that the chair of my board, who is still new to town and learning our ways, hasn’t hesitated to want to be a part of the solution, and I agree wholeheartedly with his letter to the editor. I also want to explore all options we can to help as elected town leadership. I’ve received fantastic suggestions from residents in town for good governance to address these concerns, and I hope those suggestions keep coming.
Right now, there is a lot of fear, anger and questions from the community, and town leadership should step up, and some are. They can create helpful strategies and policies, but they can’t solve the problem. If we don’t take a look at ourselves and the culture we’ve created and celebrated and make some serious changes in our own lives, then we’ll just keep facing periodic tragedies. Thoughts and prayers, put the sticker on your car, rinse and repeat.
I’m not suggesting any Prohibition-like changes. All I’m saying is that we understand that we’re being watched and ask ourselves how we’d like to be perceived. We have a full-time audience in our youth, and we want them to make responsible decisions as they get older. That starts with us ALL leading by example.”
***This story was updated Sept. 17, when MADD4MHD created a new email. The group can now be reached at madd4mhd@gmail.com.
Editor Leigh Blander is an experienced TV, radio and print journalist.
