Youth Get Involved With Retail Alcohol, Tobacco Training

By James B. Grossman
OCP Outreach Coordinator 

Recently five young people from Woodstock Union High School welcomed 34 retail clerks from 10 local stores to a Department of Liquor Control training co-sponsored by the Ottauqueechee Community Partnership (OCP). The youth represented the Spectrum Teen Board, VTLSP (Vermont Teen Leadership Program), and OVX (Our Voices Exposed).
You might wonder why youth would be involved with retail training. These young people wanted to thank and recognize clerks from retail stores that help keep our community safe by not selling alcohol and tobacco to underage purchasers. For retail clerks to know that they are appreciated is important. For youth to know that they have a voice and their feelings and opinions are taken seriously is critical. As we prepare youth to enter the adult world, practicing civic engagement is critical in raising aware and active citizens. Fostering working bonds between youth and adults helps create not only a community, but also a safer community for all. Spectrum and VTLSP also used the opportunity to continue the youth/retailer partnership, telling the stores about their upcoming Sticker Shock campaign. The project entails placing stickers on alcoholic beverages and putting up posters. These stickers will display warnings such as “distributing alcohol to minors can leave you with a $10,000 fine and 5 years in jail” etc. The teens will design both the stickers as well as the posters that will be displayed. The certificates given to retailers who passed all compliance checks for the past two years stated “Congratulations on passing DLC compliance checks in 2010. Thank you for keeping Vermont youth safe by limiting alcohol and tobacco sales to adults, thereby reducing delinquency, DWI’s and car crashes from alcohol and reducing youth smoking.”
This year the businesses that received the recognition are:
Mac’s Market, Woodstock, Downers Market, Downers 4 Corners, South Royalton Market, Randolph Smart Shop, Champlain Farms, The Pit Stop, Pittsfield, Cumberland Farms, Woodstock and Windsor, and the Woodstock Inn Gift Shop.
Certificates were presented by Marissa Farbman and Stephanie Stanglin from VTLSP, and Indi Bjornsson, Tabitha Coleman and Sam Clement from the Spectrum Teen Board. Sam Clement then presented to the group about the upcoming Sticker Shock initiative that the two groups will be working on with OCP this year.
The training was led by Steve Waldo, who gave tips to the sellers on how to identify underage purchasers. “Most customers just walk into a store and go right for what they want to buy, but someone who’s underage might circle around a bit, looking to see if there are any adults they know and looking for the cheapest beer,” said Steve Waldo, trainer for the Department of Liquor training. Waldo a captivating presenter, with more than 25 years of experience in enforcement and education, explained the liability of sellers and reviewing different sales scenarios. He educated clerks about how to reading ID’s and offering a host of “trick” questions to verify that the identification truly belongs to the presenter.
Concerned youth, committed retailers and a lively speaker made this required state training an interesting and fun evening reflecting positive community spirit. We would like to give thanks to Matteo Bjornsson who photographed this event. For more information on future trainings and other community events, contact the Ottauquechee Community Partnership at 457-2679.