Four days of amour not fully embraced
Swingers event stirs unease on Grand Isle
A group of amorous and open-minded couples plans to turn Grand Island into Fantasy Island this weekend.
The Holiday Inn Grand Island is closed to the public for the four-day convention of swingers — couples who swap partners to have sex with someone else’s spouse — that starts Thursday.
News of the swingers’ event has sparked controversy on Grand Island, with some residents expressing concern about possible unsanitary activities and public displays of indecency.
“I believe it’s tantamount to a pay-for-service weekend of immoral and illegal behavior,” said Steve Lamarco, one of two pastors at Whitehaven Road Baptist Church.
In response, town officials say they are not sure they can do anything to block the gathering on private property but they are exploring whether it violates the town zoning code.
However, hotel managers insist that the event is legal and that they have rules to ensure that attendees act safely and appropriately.
“These events go on throughout the area all the time,” said Scott Zeplowitz, the Holiday Inn’s general manager. “We don’t know why this is being made such a big issue.”
The “Entice the Falls” swingers event promises “Four Days of Wicked Temptation” for the hundreds of couples from around the world expected to attend, its Web site says.
The activities range from the sensual to the mundane: workshops on massage techniques and erotic photography; a “hedonistic pool party”; and a euchre tournament.
The convention kicks off with a private preparty tonight and ends Sunday morning.
Entice, the group putting on the event, did not return phone and e-mail messages seeking comment Tuesday.
A member of the Badd Kitty Club, a swingers’ club in Chautauqua County, said people who swing — they prefer to say they engage in “the lifestyle” — are just like everyone else.
“It’s all walks of life. It’s a lot of professional people — teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, law enforcement,” said the member, who asked not to be named. “Again, it’s just a lifestyle. People prefer to keep it discreet. It’s not done in front of children.”
Entice has held conventions in previous years at hotels in Niagara Falls, including one, the Quality Hotel & Suites, that is under different ownership today and another, the Inn on the River, that has since closed.
One hotel employee familiar with past conventions said the swingers behave themselves. Entice takes over a hotel during an off-peak month, making them an attractive booking, said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“They’re like regular guests,” the employee said. “They’re very good. They pay their bills on time.”
Managers at the Holiday Inn said they regularly book conferences and other group events.
“We accept any group; as long as it’s legal, you know, we allow it,” Zeplowitz said. “We don’t judge people.”
The 263-room hotel is closed for the event; no one younger than 18 will be allowed inside.
Members of the hotel’s fitness center will not be allowed on site for the convention but will have their memberships extended to make up for the lost days, said Dale Van Alstine, the hotel’s director of catering.
The “Entice the Falls” event will be staffed with off-duty police as well as a security team hired by the organizers.
“We have policies and procedures that we have in effect . . . to ensure the health and safety of all our guests,” Van Alstine said. “That is our policy 365 days a year.”
The hotel will not allow sex to occur in the swimming pool, any area where food is served or in other public spaces, Grand Island Supervisor Peter A. Mc- Mahon said he was assured.
The Erie County Health Department has talked to hotel management, and an inspector will pay a post-convention visit to the Holiday Inn on Monday to check conditions, said Dr. Anthony J. Billittier IV, its commissioner.
Holiday Inn employees who do not wish to work at the convention are allowed to decline to do so, Zeplowitz said.
Van Alstine said the hotel has received phone calls from concerned gym members and residents of the Island, but he does not expect to lose business over the controversy.
The hotel would lose business from Lamarco, who said his family would not renew its fitness center memberships and would no longer recommend it to out-of-town visitors.
“I’m disappointed that the hotel would be so insensitive to the community values,” he said.
Though the hotel says the event is legal, the pastor said he believes that it violates the town’s zoning code.
By setting a minimum age requirement, the hotel has become an adult facility, which is banned in the town, he argues.
McMahon said the town attorney is exploring whether the town can use the zoning code to require changes to the event.
The Badd Kitty Club member said critics are off-base.
“It’s just ignorance creates fear,” the club member said. “People don’t understand it, or really know what’s going on. So they create the worst picture of brothels and orgies.”
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