June bugs: Senior week in Dewey Beach slows, but town still wary

At the Little Store on the oceanside corner of Coastal Highway and Read Avenue, the invariable arrival of high school graduates in June means fresh chocolate chip cookies can only be found behind the counter.

That’s because last year, a rowdy group of recent graduates from a prestigious school near Wilmington decided they would steal cookies during their first foray into adulthood.

Ken Miller was not going to let that slide.

He confronted the thieves, who he said were apologetic and clearly embarrassed. That was one of the more unpleasant encounters with the grads — known as June bugs to the locals — that he said he could remember in recent years.

Soaking up the sun and sand — and copious amounts of alcohol — in Dewey Beach has been a rite of passage for thousands of high school graduates for decades in what many refer to as senior week, spread over several weekends.

But even though the partying way of life in what is a sleepy beach town for most of the year may be on the decline, according to some local officials, it still brings a slew of challenges for those young adults, their parents, property owners and police. And, police warn, being arrested for being intoxicated while underage or driving while intoxicated can cause legal problems that can follow a teen into adulthood.

Miller, who has owned and operated the corner grocery store for 37 years, said that whether it is senior week or not, there seems to be an invisible partying boundary line in Dewey.

Draw a line at McKinley Street, and most of the trouble can be found to the north, he said. That may be because that's where a good chunk of popular Dewey watering holes — like The Starboard, Hammerheads, Woody’s and The Bottle & Cork, just to name a few — can be found.

“You’d swear you’re in two different worlds,” Miller said.

Since Miller’s shop is on the southern side, where he said many property owners have replaced historic cottages with multimillion-dollar beachfront properties, he has not had many problems with the kids who descend on Dewey in the first few weeks of June.

“In the ‘70s, this was a wild and crazy place,” he said. “It has really calmed down. A lot of the kids who were wild and crazy in the ‘70s now are bringing their kids back."

But he usually closes up shop around 6 p.m., long before late-night shenanigans start.

“In general, I think the kids have gotten better,” Mitchell said, noting a years-long effort by the town’s police department to visit schools before senior week begins.

He said he has not seen or heard stories like he did when he taught government law and history at a Maryland high school, where students would return with tall tales of stealing doors and microwaves from rental houses in Ocean City.

“In general, the ones we’ve had the last four or five years have been very polite, very nice,” Miller said. “I think Dewey still has that [partying] reputation, but I don’t think it’s like that as much anymore. I say it’s the salt air.”

Proactive measures

Dewey Beach Police Sgt. Cliff Dempsey said he thinks fewer high school grads are choosing Dewey for senior week partly because of his department’s efforts to educate students and parents on the dangers — and consequences — of underage drinking.

For about the last 15 years, the youthful-looking officer has traveled from Montgomery County to Pennsylvania warning students that if they choose to let loose in Dewey after they clean out their lockers, they might want to rethink including alcohol or drugs in their plans.

“We try to hit the areas that come here the most,” he said, pointing to schools in Wilmington, New Castle County, Bethesda, Washington D.C., Montgomery County and southeastern Pennsylvania. “We try to be as proactive as we can and not ruin these kids for the next several years of their lives by enforcement.”

It's not just threat of legal trouble that young people need to worry about.

When the June bugs arrive, Dewey Beach Patrol Todd Fritchman and his crew of lifeguards not only have to monitor the ocean waves, but also any trouble that might be brewing on the sand.

"One thing we have to do is make sure they're behaving themselves," he said. Flying objects, school rivalries and disruptive behavior from these young adults keeps the beach patrol on their toes.

What makes the job more difficult is that the Dewey Beach Patrol serves as the town's first emergency medical response, and often sees people unconscious on the beach, passed out from drunkenness. And while lifeguards can't issue tickets, they will call the police.

"They need to be educated on the fact that possession and consumption of drugs and alcohol is illegal for minors and they shouldn't be coming to Dewey with the expectation that they can get away with that," Fritchman said.

But the ocean poses threats for people who don't have blurry vision and foggy minds. Combining alcohol and strong waves can spell disaster.

While Dewey is one of the calmer, safer places to swim along Delaware's Atlantic Coast, people who aren't used to the power of waves could get hurt while entering or exiting the water as waves break on their bodies, or they can get pulled out by nearly invisible rip currents.

"The beach patrol encourages the June bugs to come to Dewey Beach for a fun active and passive recreational experience, but be respectful of the town ordinances and laws, and be certain to check in with a lifeguard or beach patrol member on what activities we have available and what hazards or hindrances may be out there," he said.

While Fritchman said the June bug crowd is largely the same, maybe a little smaller, Dempsey said he has seen a significant decrease.

“We used to get 5,000 to 6,000 per week, and now we’re down to hundreds,” he said. “Over the past five years or so, there has been a drastic downturn.”

He said it is less common to see students from Kent or Sussex counties coming for senior week since Dewey is already so close to home.

“This is what I always say: You can’t park your cars, you destroy people’s property, you’re loud and you smell,” Dempsey said. “And everybody kind of laughs about it, but it’s true. If you’re a family that’s just rented this house for $3,000 for the weekend or however much it is and now you’ve just figured out a house of 12 high school students just moved in and it’s going to ruin your whole week.”

Generally, underage drinking arrests come with a civil citation that can cost between $60 to $235, not including court costs and any additional sentencing handed down through Dewey’s Alderman Court, a town-based legal system that generally deals with small infractions.

Dempsey said talk that an underage drinking violation is a simple ticket or a money-making scheme in Dewey are not accurate. Dewey Beach Town Manager Scott Koenig said the estimated $374,000 collected from fines — all fines, not just underage drinking — is just one chunk of the town’s $3.3 million operating budget.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’d love to get to a point where we didn’t have to write any fines,” Koenig said. “Unfortunately, there’s some bad behavior that warrants tickets, and those are the revenues associated with that. Those don’t even cover the cost associated with policing.”

Koenig said the police operating budget is just over $1 million, which means fines cover nearly 37 percent of that annual cost.

“We would rather them control the behavior and not get the fines, to be honest,” Koenig said.

While someone under 21 who is found drunk and crying on a curb outside the Rusty Rudder will get a ticket — and will likely be escorted back to the police department — a drunk minor caught driving or fighting or destroying property is going to face much more severe consequences. Possessing alcohol under the age of 21 is illegal, Dempsey said, and there are additional fines for adults who provide booze to teens and young adults.

“Everybody looks at us as the party police,” Dempsey said. “Yes, we arrest, but we also do a lot of education with these kids.”

The situation can get much more complicated for a 17-year-old, who would have no way to hide their Dewey drama from their parents because they will remain in police custody until a parent or legal guardian retrieves them from the station.

Recent high school grads also have a hard time hiding from police. June bugs “stick out like sore thumbs,” Dempsey said, and because they look so young, they are often stopped during nightly curfew checks. 

As for parties, turning off the lights, closing the blinds and ignoring the police knocking will not help. Dempsey said he and his fellow officers have no problem camping outside until they open the door or their landlord shows up. They can always order a pizza while they wait, he said. (Yes, he has done that before.)

As much as he hopes his message got through to students while he visited them at their schools, he knows that is not the case.

“We will hit every party all night long,” he said, reminiscing about one party he busted where he and other officers watched the teens pour can after can of beer down the drain, as well as bottles of top-shelf liquor he said they likely stole from their parents.

“By the time Wednesday comes along,"  he said, "there usually is no alcohol left and they just wander the streets because they’re bored to death.”

Not worth the risk?

While the June bugs are technically adults, but also too young to indulge in adult beverages, some property owners and rental agencies refuse to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Some hotels, like Hotel Dewey and Siesta 4, will not rent rooms to anyone under the age of 21. Other rental companies, like Long & Foster, work with property owners to completely block out the first few weeks of June because dealing with young renters is not worth the risk of damaged property or irritated neighbors.

“The reason it’s slowing down is because people don’t want to take the risk,” said Dewey Beach Mayor T.J. Redefer, who also is a broker at Rehoboth Bay Realty. “I tell my landlords don’t rent in June.”

But that’s not how Maple Glen, Pennsylvania, resident Suzie Sims feels.

“It’s not really the horror story of kids trashing a house,” said Sims, who owns an early 20th century cottage on New Orleans Street. “I think they want to play house and act like adults. I think the biggest thing is the alcohol and cohabitation — that’s really the trouble kids try to get into.”

Sims, who has six children of her own, said she does not condone underage drinking. But she understands the risks that come with renting to a younger crowd, which is why the weekly rate and security deposit for the two-bedroom cottage are higher during senior weeks.

“I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck,” she said. “I’m cool with renting to seniors, but I want to talk to their parents first. And a lot of time I find out the parents will be down the beach, too, staying close by. I also have a zillion and one friends that are down at the beach for the summer. I have eyes all over the place.”

Sims said her cottage is also “bomb proof” because she has not done a lot of expensive upgrades, and most of the furnishings are recycled. She also screens her renters well, and has it written into the lease agreement that if the police are called, they will be evicted.

“If you behave yourself, you’re welcome to come back,” she said, adding that she has never had major problems with recent graduates — the problems usually come from renters who are men in their late 20s and early 30s.

Other parents have been known to give the OK to their children to party, as long as they keep it quiet and safe.

Former Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler made headlines in 2013 when he was spotted at a South Bethany beach house where his son was attending a senior week party. He said he had stopped by to check on his son, and after a photo of him at the party appeared on social media, he told media outlets he should have checked to see if underage drinking was happening.

"I think you have to, as a parent, be one that is responsible and not close your eyes and look the other way," Gansler said. "It's a very transitional, emotional time for most kids. The friction is that we have a drinking age of 21, and most of these kids are having beer at 18, 19, 20 years old. And the most important thing you'd like to believe is you trust them and their judgment from raising them the right way."

Redefer said property owners who have invested hundreds of thousands — and in some cases, millions — of dollars on beach properties aren’t willing to trust young adults by risking the damages that often come with young binge drinkers, or the potential for irritating their neighbors by allowing late-night partiers to stay at those places.

Redefer said a few years ago, the small beach cottages like Sims’ place would have sold for around $250,000. In May, he sold two cottages for a much higher price: one went for $405,000 and the other $417,000, and both owners are planning upwards of $200,000 in renovations, he said.

“As property values go up, we see it go down,” he said of seniors flocking to the beach.

As for businesses where June bugs might try to get illegal libations, the risk simply isn’t worth the reward, Dempsey said. Many rely on the summer months for their entire annual income, and risking fines or loss of their liquor license by serving alcohol to minors is often enough motivation.

“They have 90 to 120 days to make their salary for the year — they don’t need these kids,” Dempsey said.

While Redefer spoke of Dewey being strict about underage drinking and a “renaissance” of the town, he also embraced the idea of Dewey being the go-to spot to party at the beach.

“Just don’t be that guy,” Redefer said, alluding to The Starboard’s video pleading with people of all ages to act appropriately if they decide to get tipsy.

“There’s something unusual about the air in Dewey Beach,” he said, echoing the longtime grocery store owner's sentiments. “But if you get in trouble in Dewey, it’s going to sting.”

Contact reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608, mlauria@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @MaddyinMilford.

BEACH NEWS

Surprise: Woman gives birth outside Dewey Beach hotel

Dogfish Head opens 36-seat Rehoboth Beach courtyard

Whale shocks volleyball team visiting Fenwick Island