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http://www.havasunews.com/news/evol...cle_fb5ec0e6-cf93-11e4-8201-eb798756e850.html
By KEVIN BAIRD TODAY?S NEWS-HERALD
This weekend spring break is fully raging with thousands of college students partying in the Havasu sunshine, bars, and hotels.
What some people may not realize is Lake Havasu has been a party destination for a long time.
Joe Campbell, who graduated from high school in the early 1980s, and now works for Campbell Redi-Mix, said spring break is a relatively new to Havasu. As a teenager in the 1970s and a college student in the 1980s, Campbell said it was mainly locals and Californians who partied in Havasu. Campbell said it was MTV coming to Havasu in 1995 that truly put this town on the map of spring break destinations.
The party scene in the much smaller Lake Havasu City of Campbell?s day was obviously different.
There's a bunch of cops out there on the lake now, and there wasn't then, Campbell said. That's the biggest difference. You could float around in your boat and have a drink, he said. Copper Canyon was the biggest party spot. You could jump off the cliffs there. The channel wasn't that big a hangout.
Partying in the desert with bonfires also was popular in Campbell's day, and the town?s small size made it easy to get out into the desert.
Back then there was a lot less people here. My parents didn't worry much, Campbell said. I'm not saying it's worse. It's just different. It was a fun place to grow up. We had a lot of freedom.
Scott Stocking, who owns the Mudshark Brewery, grew up in a similar era, and he said the 1970s and 1980s were a great time to grow up in Havasu.
It was lawless in the seventies and eighties, Stocking said. It was great friends and great fun. We'd cruise to Mudshark Beach (which is now Rotary Park) and barbecue. We could throw back some cold ones. It's not like it is today. We all rode our ATV's and dirt bikes, on the beach, of course. It was more relaxed atmosphere back then but it was a heck of a lot of fun.
Danny Tinker, a Las Vegas native who boats at Lake Havasu nearly every weekend in the summer, said he first started coming to Lake Havasu for spring break in the late 1980s.
?It?s totally different now,? Tinker said. ?It used to be wild and crazy and fun. They toned it down a lot. I think (law enforcement) is harder on young kids and the drinking, now.?
Tinker believes Spring Break peaked for Lake Havasu in 1995 when MTV filmed their spring break show here.
MTV brought in a cast of pop culture icons to Havasu including Ken Griffey Jr., Warren G., Jenny McCarthy, Brandy, Coolio, Dave Matthews, and The Notorious B.I.G.
And MTV offered four Havasu locals a shot at fame when talent scouts invited then high school senior Andrea Hoogstad, and Chauna Drew to compete in the ?Beauty and the Beach.? Fireman Tony Rivello and Mike Danley were invited onto MTV?s ?King of the Beach? competition.
?That was one of the wildest weekends out there,? Tinker said. ?And ya, (the spring breakers) did act more crazy for the camera. The more people you get the more wild it gets.?
Stan Usinowicz, who is the former editor of Today?s Daily-News (a predecessor to the Today?s News-Herald), said the MTV spring break was a ?huge plus? for Lake Havasu City because it brought people from out of town and gave Havasu fame.
?There was a lot of excitement about MTV,? Usinowicz said. ?Of course MTV was rocketing to the top at the time, for viewership and interest.?
I actually spent some time in (MTV?s) compound when they were doing shows, Usinowicz said. ?They were clean, they?d get people in, and they?d give them a goodie bag with water, snacks, and it was a lot of fun for them,? he said.
Tinker said MTV ultimately let everybody know Havasu was the best place for spring break at the time. But Tinker believes that after MTV?s arrival is when the rules on the lake began to be enforced more, due to negative attention.
In fact, there was a No MTV Committee formed in Havasu with the goal of preventing MTV from coming back.
?I think the resistance was from the more conservative part of the town, because they thought (MTV spring break) was too oversexed,? Usinowicz said.
In more recent years, Summer Winter Action Tours has been bringing thousands of college students to Lake Havasu to enjoy spring break in a more regulated environment that has involved activities, and concerts.
Stephen Gaines, 23, bartends at the Javalina Cantina said he?s happy SWAT has come to Havasu.
?After SWAT came in it made it a lot better for everybody,? Gaines said. ?It?s a lot more organized and there?s more to do instead of just hang out in the channel and get in a fight.?
Gaines said spring break is ?something you?re waiting to be able to do,? as a local growing up, because ?you hear all the crazy stories.? Gaines said spring break in Havasu lived up to the hype for the most part. But he doesn?t think Havasu is as wild as it was, or as wild as it could be.
?It was definitely crazier back in the day, but it?s getting more popular. It?s definitely on the upswing right now,? Gaines said.
Chachi Cano, a 23-year old student at Grand Canyon University, partied at the Bridgewater Channel on a boat for the very first time on Friday afternoon.
?When you watch the party movies, and think spring break?it?s like Havasu is exactly how spring break supposed to be,? Cano said. ?It?s better than I expected.?
Cano?s experience is obviously different than Campbell?s, and in another 10 years the spring break scene in Havasu will likely be very different. The one sure thing is college students will continue to come here seeking excellent weather, a beautiful lake to help them cut loose.
By KEVIN BAIRD TODAY?S NEWS-HERALD
This weekend spring break is fully raging with thousands of college students partying in the Havasu sunshine, bars, and hotels.
What some people may not realize is Lake Havasu has been a party destination for a long time.
Joe Campbell, who graduated from high school in the early 1980s, and now works for Campbell Redi-Mix, said spring break is a relatively new to Havasu. As a teenager in the 1970s and a college student in the 1980s, Campbell said it was mainly locals and Californians who partied in Havasu. Campbell said it was MTV coming to Havasu in 1995 that truly put this town on the map of spring break destinations.
The party scene in the much smaller Lake Havasu City of Campbell?s day was obviously different.
There's a bunch of cops out there on the lake now, and there wasn't then, Campbell said. That's the biggest difference. You could float around in your boat and have a drink, he said. Copper Canyon was the biggest party spot. You could jump off the cliffs there. The channel wasn't that big a hangout.
Partying in the desert with bonfires also was popular in Campbell's day, and the town?s small size made it easy to get out into the desert.
Back then there was a lot less people here. My parents didn't worry much, Campbell said. I'm not saying it's worse. It's just different. It was a fun place to grow up. We had a lot of freedom.
Scott Stocking, who owns the Mudshark Brewery, grew up in a similar era, and he said the 1970s and 1980s were a great time to grow up in Havasu.
It was lawless in the seventies and eighties, Stocking said. It was great friends and great fun. We'd cruise to Mudshark Beach (which is now Rotary Park) and barbecue. We could throw back some cold ones. It's not like it is today. We all rode our ATV's and dirt bikes, on the beach, of course. It was more relaxed atmosphere back then but it was a heck of a lot of fun.
Danny Tinker, a Las Vegas native who boats at Lake Havasu nearly every weekend in the summer, said he first started coming to Lake Havasu for spring break in the late 1980s.
?It?s totally different now,? Tinker said. ?It used to be wild and crazy and fun. They toned it down a lot. I think (law enforcement) is harder on young kids and the drinking, now.?
Tinker believes Spring Break peaked for Lake Havasu in 1995 when MTV filmed their spring break show here.
MTV brought in a cast of pop culture icons to Havasu including Ken Griffey Jr., Warren G., Jenny McCarthy, Brandy, Coolio, Dave Matthews, and The Notorious B.I.G.
And MTV offered four Havasu locals a shot at fame when talent scouts invited then high school senior Andrea Hoogstad, and Chauna Drew to compete in the ?Beauty and the Beach.? Fireman Tony Rivello and Mike Danley were invited onto MTV?s ?King of the Beach? competition.
?That was one of the wildest weekends out there,? Tinker said. ?And ya, (the spring breakers) did act more crazy for the camera. The more people you get the more wild it gets.?
Stan Usinowicz, who is the former editor of Today?s Daily-News (a predecessor to the Today?s News-Herald), said the MTV spring break was a ?huge plus? for Lake Havasu City because it brought people from out of town and gave Havasu fame.
?There was a lot of excitement about MTV,? Usinowicz said. ?Of course MTV was rocketing to the top at the time, for viewership and interest.?
I actually spent some time in (MTV?s) compound when they were doing shows, Usinowicz said. ?They were clean, they?d get people in, and they?d give them a goodie bag with water, snacks, and it was a lot of fun for them,? he said.
Tinker said MTV ultimately let everybody know Havasu was the best place for spring break at the time. But Tinker believes that after MTV?s arrival is when the rules on the lake began to be enforced more, due to negative attention.
In fact, there was a No MTV Committee formed in Havasu with the goal of preventing MTV from coming back.
?I think the resistance was from the more conservative part of the town, because they thought (MTV spring break) was too oversexed,? Usinowicz said.
In more recent years, Summer Winter Action Tours has been bringing thousands of college students to Lake Havasu to enjoy spring break in a more regulated environment that has involved activities, and concerts.
Stephen Gaines, 23, bartends at the Javalina Cantina said he?s happy SWAT has come to Havasu.
?After SWAT came in it made it a lot better for everybody,? Gaines said. ?It?s a lot more organized and there?s more to do instead of just hang out in the channel and get in a fight.?
Gaines said spring break is ?something you?re waiting to be able to do,? as a local growing up, because ?you hear all the crazy stories.? Gaines said spring break in Havasu lived up to the hype for the most part. But he doesn?t think Havasu is as wild as it was, or as wild as it could be.
?It was definitely crazier back in the day, but it?s getting more popular. It?s definitely on the upswing right now,? Gaines said.
Chachi Cano, a 23-year old student at Grand Canyon University, partied at the Bridgewater Channel on a boat for the very first time on Friday afternoon.
?When you watch the party movies, and think spring break?it?s like Havasu is exactly how spring break supposed to be,? Cano said. ?It?s better than I expected.?
Cano?s experience is obviously different than Campbell?s, and in another 10 years the spring break scene in Havasu will likely be very different. The one sure thing is college students will continue to come here seeking excellent weather, a beautiful lake to help them cut loose.
