Lake County proclaims April 2025 as California Friday Night Live Month to highlight youth substance‑use prevention

Supervisor Sabate, a member of the Lake County Board of Supervisors, read and the board adopted a proclamation designating April 2025 as California Friday Night Live Month and applauding Friday Night Live youth leaders and adult allies for work on underage‑drinking and other substance‑use prevention.

The proclamation notes that Friday Night Live was established in 1984, serves youth from grades 4 through 12, and that youth leaders in 53 California counties will highlight prevention efforts during April 2025.

Sophie Sabatier, a member of the Friday Night Live Club, told the board the club recently ran a “Spread the Word” project aimed at reducing underage drinking. "Spread the word is a community based project to reduce underage drinking by informing people about the consequences of supplying alcohol to minors," Sabatier said. She said the club collected about 100 parent pledges and has been placing labels and hangers on alcohol containers in local stores to remind customers that supplying alcohol to anyone under 21 is illegal.

A program speaker, Richard O'Kino, described weekly meetings at the school and partnerships with local businesses that supported the club’s outreach. He said Foods Etcetera in Clear Lake allowed students to place more than 200 door hangers and stickers at the store and that the group partnered with Clear Lake Grocery Outlet for future visits. O'Kino said the program received a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety to support the project.

Amber (last name not provided), a program staff member, told the board the state funding for Friday Night Live "is barely enough to support one school," and urged community partners and other funding streams to help expand the program countywide. "We really need to leverage our partners and individuals with other funding streams or opportunities or volunteer opportunities to help us do that," she said.

Members of the public and county staff spoke in support of the youths. Jack Smalley, identified himself as "chief billing official for the county" and asked how to sign a pledge; program leaders said they will staff a booth at the Child Advocacy Walk in Austin Park this weekend. Paul Verhey provided a statistic about early drinking and addiction risk and commended the students for their stance against substance use.

The board’s proclamation formally recognized April 2025 as California Friday Night Live Month "and applauds Friday Night Live youth leaders and their adult allies who are committed to improving the quality of life for present and future generations," and was signed by the board chair, according to remarks recorded during the meeting.

Program leaders described expansion plans with the Lake County Office of Education to add clubs at elementary and middle schools (Obsidian Middle School and Lower Lake Elementary were cited as targets) and noted opportunities for middle‑school and college programming. They emphasized prevention projects available through Friday Night Live, including surveys, tobacco/vape monitoring projects and gambling prevention work.

No formal motion maker, second or roll‑call vote tally was recorded in the transcript excerpt; the proclamation text and the chair’s signature were stated on the record.