Girls gone mild

By Matt Flumerfelt

February 09, 2009 10:59 pm

— VALDOSTA — Milltown Groove, a Remerton night spot, canceled a planned appearance by the Girls Gone Wild tour bus when public outcry against the Saturday event threatened to turn it from a wild and crazy night out into a protest against lewd and indecent behavior.
Valdosta Mayor John Fretti said he had been hammered hard with complaints from citizens opposed to the Girls Gone Wild event planned for Saturday, Feb. 7.
“I was contacted numerous times at City Hall, my home and my cell phone. Many citizens were outraged,” Fretti stated. “I conveyed most all of the complaints to a principle of the company on a daily basis.
After relaying three more complaints on early Saturday afternoon, I received a message around 4:00 in the afternoon that they had canceled the event.”
Fretti said the most moving statements were the concerns that this event would be taking place on the same weekend as the Father-Daughter dance, an annual event where fathers treat their daughters to a dance, exhibiting the traits of how they should be treated by a gentleman, helping them build self respect and confidence. Fretti said he has no jurisdiction over Remerton, but felt compelled to assist in every way he could and is glad the situation turned out the way it did.
Heath Cox, manager of Milltown Groove, said “The newspaper article got it way out of proportion. It really hurt my feelings that people would think that I would do that kind of stuff in public. Once I got wind of everything that was going on from Chief Terrell and from some churches, and they expressed their feelings of how they didn’t want it,
“I canceled it for them, for the good of the city and the council.” Cox said the intention of parking the bus outside Milltown Groove was to use it as a promotional tool.
“They were going to bring the bus, just let people take pictures of the bus. They were going to come in, throw out some T-shirts, and that was it. Nothing was going to go on (inside) that bus whatsoever.”
Cox stated that some protesters showed up on Friday, carrying signs that read, “Christians against the Girls Gone Wild Tour Bus.”