Florida beach once plagued by hordes of feral youths now 'finds God' as it hosts upbeat Easter service

James Saunders
Sun, 05 Apr 2026 23:43:38 +0000

Nearly 400 worshippers gathered at the Daytona Beach bandshell for a Easter service on Sunday - just metres from where hordes of out-of-control spring breakers had roamed days prior.

The Catholic service took place at the same Florida shoreline that only recently saw drunken "takeover" mobs, mass arrests and widespread disorder.

Locals and worshippers alike have poured praise on organisers for bringing the community back together.

Jim Lally, a 63-year-old from Pennsylvania who spends winters in Daytona, drew a sharp contrast between the two gatherings.

"Right here, what we just celebrated, was just a large group of people who are wanting to do the right thing," he told The New York Post.

"It's just nice to have a community come together and do for others."

Mr Lally described the spring breakers as self-centred rather than community-minded.

He also called the recent disorder "unfortunate" and suggested the mob lacked perspective.

"You throw those same kids into an environment like what we just saw [during Sunday's service and] … I think their behaviours would be a bit different.

"So I encourage them to wake up during family time instead of after midnight," he said.

Mr Lally's wife Becky, also 63, said this year's spring break turmoil was "way worse" than in previous years.

She attributed the escalation partly to social media-promoted "takeover events" that drew unruly crowds to the beach.

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"There should be a consequence if they're going to come to our beautiful beach city and ruin it and destroy it, so I'm happy with what Mr. Chitwood does," she said.

Those attending the service thanked Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood's firm response to the chaos.

The sheriff had implemented a party quarantine zone with doubled fines and strict limits on gathering sizes after more than 100 arrests were made during the first weekend of spring break.

He announced last month that his office had already issued two cease-and-desist letters to online promoters behind the unsanctioned gatherings.

"If you promote an unsanctioned event and we incur costs - police, fire, EMS and trash clean-up - you are responsible for the cost of that event," he explained at a press conference.

Daytona resident Barb Wamsley, 56, said authorities had done "a remarkable job" restoring order to the area.

"I walked around the day after, and there were police everywhere and good security and everything," she said.

"I think a lot of those people that came in just don't realise that - like, this isn't where you just get to come in and take over our city and act like fools."

Thecla Brown, in her 70s, welcomed the crackdown as necessary to preserve the beach's appeal.

"I think it's good because you don't want it to get so out of hand that it scares away the families and old people," she said.