Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Monday night at Tyrone Borough Council, the body voted to send a cease and decease letter to the Citizens Volunteer Fire Company on its Friday night youth dances.
This morning, two members of the fire company came to the offices of The Daily Herald to “set the record straight.”
According to Greg Adams, the kid mentioned at the council meeting with the broken arm had nothing to do with the dances.
“He came down the alley behind the fire hall and threw a rock at a car and then got beat up. He wasn’t even in the dance.”
There have been problems since the dances started, but that happens with every youth dance.
“We had six chaperones for about 200 kids and recently boosted that number to 12,” said Chris Hammond one of the disc jockeys for the dances. “These kids aren’t drinking at the dances; they come in drunk. Why can’t the police catch these kids when they are walking to the dances?”
The letter from Borough Council has not been received by the fire company as of press time. The plans are for a dance to take place this Friday night.
“We haven’t heard from the council or the president of the fire company to stop the dances,” said Hammond. “We are weeding out the bad kids. We are enforcing stricter punishment if they break the rules. Instead of getting one night out, the rule breakers are banned from attending the dances.”
Hammond said that he spoke with Tyrone Mayor Pat Stoner about the dances nearly a month ago.
“She (Mayor Stoner) gave us instructions about how to clean up the dances,” said Hammond. “It just hasn’t been going as fast as they would like. I have even invited the mayor personally to the dances to see what goes on, but she has not come yet.”
Hammond said the same type of things have happened in Altoona with dances there.
“These things are why the Casino and other places in Altoona have stopped doing youth dances,” said Hammond. “This just takes something to do away for a lot of kids.”
When asked about the amount of kids causing trouble, Hammond said the number was small.
“Of the 200 kids who come every week, there is probably 15 kids who are there to cause trouble,” said Hammond. “We just kicked about seven of them out and the number of trouble makers is dwindling.”
One of the members of the fire company, Rod Zimmerman used to chaperone the dances but stopped after six weeks.
“I just stopped because the kids wouldn’t listen,” said Zimmerman. “There were problems and fights. It is tough to keep track of 200 kids inside, let alone when you let them out and come back in.”
According to Zimmerman, there has been damage inside the social hall because of the dances.
“The women’s bathroom stalls have been knocked off the wall,” said Zimmerman. “There have been tables busted, holes punched in the drywall and footprints on the wall.”
On the ‘Chewdog and Hammy’ (Chris Hammond and Matt DeArmitt) website, this message was placed for the kids who attend the dances to read:
“We need your help!
The Tyrone Borough Council has voted to stop the dances every Friday night. Their address is 1100 Logan Avenue, Tyrone, Pa. 16686.
Yes, there are problems, but when we see them, we call the police, not anyone else. They must not want that. Reading the paper, that is what it looks like.
The kid with the broken arm from the fight wasn’t even from the dance. They fought in the alley beside the fire hall.
The drunk kid was standing outside when the doorman saw him drunk, brought him in and again called police. He got taken to the hospital.
We need all the support we can get on this. Please tell everyone you know to help, for the youth, the people of tomorrow and for the Citizens Fire Company.”
Some of the kids who attend the dances are already taking action.
One teenager said that, “I have personally seen several instances where Matt (DeArmitt) and Chris (Hammond) have called people’s parents because they have shown up drunk at the dances. They cannot baby-sit the kids and check everyone when they come in, or we wouldn’t be able to have the dances.”
She later said, “Yes, kids smoke out behind the building, but not once have I seen anyone doing drugs or drinking at the dances. It’s a place for us to get out for a little bit and have fun on the weekend. Some of us get to see friends from other towns while we are there and we have a lot of fun. Shutting down the dances would do more harm than good.”
The Daily Herald contacted Tyrone Police Chief Joe Beachem about this matter.
“We have responded to seven calls in the Citizens area in the month of May,” said Beachem. “On May 3, a juvenile who just left the dance, was drunk and broke into seven vehicles. On May 16, we responded to a suspicious person hanging behind the fire hall, and also on the May 16, three juveniles jumped in front of a mini-van on 10th Street and threw rocks at the vehicle. May 23, we responded to a male juvenile under the influence and the fight in which the kid suffered the broken arm. On May 30, two adult females got into a pushing match. Both will be cited for disorderly conduct. We have also responded to several noise calls.”
Beachem also said that patrols around the Citizens are boosted on dance nights.
“We try to keep a car in that area,” said Beachem. “It is a drain if you have to concentrate on one area. We get calls that take that car out of the area and that is when things tend to happen.”
Beachem also said it is a few people who are causing the problems.
“I hate to see the good kids lose something to do,” said Beachem. “The problem has gotten so out of hand that we have little choice but to ask for the dances to stop.”
Tyrone Borough has the option to stop funding the Citizens Fire Company if the order isn’t followed.

By Rick