Pubdate: Wed, 13 Dec 2006
Source: Marin Independent Journal (CA)
Copyright: 2006 Marin Independent Journal
Contact:  http://www.marinij.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/673
Author: Tad Whitaker

CAFE TO HOST TEENS AT NIGHT IN WAR ON DRUGS, BOREDOM

Ross Valley teens will have a place to go starting  Friday night.

After hearing teens complain there was nowhere to go  and nothing to 
do, Fairfax Councilwoman Mary Ann  Maggiore persuaded Fairfax Coffee 
Roasters to stay open  later than normal to be a gathering spot for teens.

The business at the corner of Broadway and Bolinas  Avenue will 
remain open until 11 p.m. Friday - as well  as Dec. 22, Dec. 29 and 
perhaps other Fridays if  attendance is good.

Maggiore said young people need an alternative to drugs  and alcohol.

"They told us if they had a place to be, they wouldn't  be doing 
things they're not supposed to be doing," she  said.

Fairfax's downtown is a hub of nightlife thanks to its  four bars, 
three of which feature live music, within a  single block.

Town officials want to curb drug and alcohol use by  teens, a problem 
across the county, and are considering  measures including making 
parents financially  responsible for parties at which teens are served alcohol.

According to a recent "Healthy Kids Survey," Marin  teens have a high 
rate of alcohol and substance abuse  compared with peers across the 
state and nation.

Maggiore, who along with Councilman Lew Tremaine serves  on the 
town's Youth and Alcohol Task Force, said teens need positive 
alternatives to drinking and  drugs. It is particularly important at 
this time of year, when parents are attending holiday parties, she  said.

After talking with the town's Youth Commission,  students at Sir 
Francis Drake High School and others,  she realized holding events at 
the Pavilion wouldn't  work because kids would feel isolated up on 
the hill.  That's why she approached Ed Wall, whose coffee shop 
is  at the center of town.

"They like to see and be seen," she said. The shop is  just across 
the street from the Parkade parking lot,  where Fairfax teens have 
gathered for decades.

Wall said he usually closes about 6 p.m., but "we've  always wanted 
to stay open late. "To be quite frank,  it hasn't been economically 
sound to do it."

However, he said he is willing to try to provide a  place for teens 
to gather. The former Air Force brat  remembers a childhood filled 
with plenty of organized  activities that kept kids out of trouble.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that kind of a system,"  he said. "It's a shame."

 From 8 to 11 p.m., the coffee shop will be open only to  teens, 
although chaperones will hang around the edges  for good measure. 
Admission costs $5 and includes  dessert and a cup of coffee or tea.

"Everyone's curious," said Kaila Wanberg, a 16-year-old  Drake 
student from San Anselmo.

Wanberg, who helped organize the event, said a fellow  student is 
scheduled to play guitar.

She said that, other than people's houses, there aren't  places for 
teens to go. San Rafael may have its new  Marin Interfaith Youth 
Outreach Teen Center, but that  is too far away for Ross Valley kids.

"There's not a place designated for kids to come," she said.

Maggiore said she expects about 40 teens Friday night.  She said if 
it is successful, the program could be the  groundwork for building a 
formal teen center in the  Ross Valley.

"We'll work with that as it happens," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine