Lakeland Cancels Winterfest After Ticket Sales Slump

After selling only 80 tickets for Saturday's Winterfest Dance, canceled the event. Refunds will be given to those who purchased tickets, although details of the refund process have not yet been finalized.

"I'm disappointed," senior Nick Visgar said. "Not in the fact that they had to cancel it, but because our school has such a low spirit that we only sold, like, less than a hundred tickets. That’s despicable."

This is the first time a school dance has been canceled in the nine years Principal Bob Behnke has been at Lakeland.

"A few issues, I think, factor into play, those being the start of the semester (was this week), the weather and the response to enforcement of the dance regulations," he said. "While there was not an organized effort to not attend the dance, I think many were going to sit this dance out and see from others as to how it went. Refunds will be issued as soon as possible."

In January, the school gave notice to students that the dance policy in place would be strictly enforced, starting with the Winterfest Dance.

The policy, drafted by a committee of parents, students and teachers, requires dance-goers to wear appropriate apparel, leave some space between them and their dance partner and make sure they have their hands in an appropriate place on their partner.

Reactions among students were reportedly mixed, and a White Lake Patch article  about the new policy, written by Lakeland student Laura Rico, sparked conversation among readers.

Visgar said he believes the dance guidelines and the rumors of a dance going on the same night at a teen club called Chrome, in Whitmore Lake, contributed to the low sales.

Senior Melissa Vish said she wasn't disappointed that the dance was canceled.

"I don’t mind it, actually. Winterfest is usually known for being kind of lame," she said. "I think the guidelines gave people even more of an excuse not to go. Also, it's kind of like a domino effect. People one by one saw their friends not going, so they didn't want to go to something that their friends weren't going to be at."

Visgar said he will miss the setup before the dance and the cleanup after.

"I’ve lost something. I've lost an activity that I called fun. Not even the dance itself so much, but just setting up was great, and now that is no more," he said.

The school fell far short of the 340 tickets it needed to sell to cover the cost of holding the dance.

The good news is the money already spent on the dance for the disc jockey and lighting technician can be applied toward homecoming next fall, so the district will not lose money, according to Behnke.

In addition, Behnke said Scott Rolando, a teacher and student activities director, and the leadership students have expressed interest in brainstorming ideas for a spring event.

The leadership class at Lakeland organizes the dances.

"They want to focus more on an activity night or incorporating the pools and fitness areas into a school event," Behnke said. "We will be working with them and the students to get an event that will be well attended."

Tony Edwards, a leadership student, said, "With the death of something old comes the birth of something new. I don't know who said that, but I think it applies here. We will just have to come up with something new and better to do. It's going to be a challenge, but then it wouldn't be a leadership course if it wasn't challenging its students."