Community party to remember Lehigh basketball star, Club Blu victim

FORT MYERS, Fla. Stef’an Strawder would’ve graduated from Lehigh Senior High School this weekend.

Strawder, 18, one of two teenagers killed outside Club Blu last summer, will still have his achievement honored through a graduation party on Friday at the STARS Complex being thrown by his mother, Stephanie White.

“My idea was to, since he was going to graduate, to throw on a bash where the kids can be safe, just like he thought he was going to be safe at the event he went to but he wasn’t,” she said.

Strawder has been remembered since his death through memorials off and on the basketball court, where he was a star guard on the school’s basketball team.

Friday’s party will include food, raffles prizes and the first 200 people will receive a t-shirt with Strawder on it.

It will also include tight security:

• The party is only for high school students. You will need to show ID to get in.
• No book bags or purses are allowed.
• Attendees should expect to be patted down.
• Fort Myers police and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office will patrol the area.

White is still seeking chaperones and volunteers for Friday’s event and is looking for donations to help make it an annual gathering. If interested, call (239) 234-9159.