Christmas show is a Grinchly nonevent, kids find on arrival
By Associated Press
Published December 5, 2003
MIAMI - Busloads of schoolchildren who paid for a field trip celebrating the Christmas holidays appear to have been bamboozled by a real-life Grinch.
Thousands of youngsters had paid $10 to $20 apiece to attend a show called "Christmas From Around the World." But when their school buses arrived Wednesday morning, they found a shuttered playhouse. The promoter was missing.
"The Grinch raised his ugly head today," said Mary Ross Agosta, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami, which sent students from seven Catholic schools to the show.
Miami police said the promoter, David Lee Ellisor, 50, is wanted for questioning on possible fraud and grand theft charges.
"The fact that he's not showing up is making us very suspicious," police spokesman Lt. Bill Schwartz said Thursday.
Police estimate Ellisor received at least $2,000 for the field trip and said he failed to pay a $1,600 hotel bill last month.
The show listed the city's police and fire departments and the Doubletree Hotel as sponsors. Schwartz said none of them were involved.
School officials said Ellisor approached them months ago and passed out glossy fliers and packets promoting the event.
Ellisor left this recorded message at the phone number on his flier: "I'm so, so sorry to inform you the field trip has been postponed because we didn't have enough money to buy the presents. The city of Miami would not accept the school checks, and we've been fighting and we're sorry about this last-moment delay, but the field trip has been postponed until a couple of weeks from now."
Gregory Wright, manager of the Coconut Grove Expo Center, said Ellisor bounced a $5,000 down payment check in November but was told he could still make the check good and open the show. "But he never did," Wright said. He said his staff was shocked when the buses began arriving.
