Swapping t-ball for drive ins: city events in the age of a pandemic
When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered Broward County in March to close movie theaters, beaches, gyms and all non-essential businesses, it was unclear when Florida would open up again. But as summer arrived and turned to fall, the state began to allow businesses to reopen to the public. Now, with the year coming to a close and the holiday season having arrived, holiday shopping and gatherings have COVID cases beginning to rise again. Cases in Broward County are reported to be over 100,000, and deaths are continuing to climb.
The city of Tamarac has been trying to slowly return to normal with extreme caution. Parks have been allowed to reopen. Bars and similar businesses have also been allowed to open, but must follow specific guidelines. Many city events have been affected, and adjustments have had to be made.
“Pretty much all of our events that we normally do have been cancelled until 2021 since they are all in person events with over 100 in attendance,” Melissa Petron wrote in an email. Petron is Tamarac’s parks and recreations special events coordinator and has been with the city for over 20 years.
According to the CDC, the lowest risk of COVID-19 spreading at events and gatherings is during virtual-only activities and gatherings, while the highest risk of spreading the virus is large gatherings where it is hard to social distance.
Even so, over the last three months, Tamarac has held a few events. each of these events had to be monitored to ensure the safety of the guests.
In August, Tamarac held a drive-in movie which went well as guests followed the rules set by the city. “People were required to stay in their cars to watch the movie and wear a mask when they used the restroom. Everyone followed the protocols.” Petron said.
Petron also said that the drive-thru Halloween haunt that took place at the Tamarac Sports Complex was a success. “The cars drove through a mini haunted house and received bags of candy from a few vendors,” Petron said. The attendance for the event also turned out well. “We had a huge turnout as cars were lined up for two miles. We figured we had over 500 cars attended
with at least four people in each car.”
Because the Halloween haunt wasn’t an outdoor event, there weren’t any protocols set, but the employees working the event were very cautious nevertheless. “Since it was a drive thru there was really no protocols for the participants to follow. Our staff and vendors wore masks and gloves to hand out bags of candy to the people in the cars,” Petron said.
The city of Tamarac planned on having a few events during the month of November, but because of COVID-19, events that usually have big crowds now need to be managed and limited, such as the Veterans Day Illumination Celebration. “We usually do a Veterans Day ceremony but since we cannot have people congregating, we decided to have a small event in the evening when people can visit the memorial and Honor Wall while the Honor Wall is lit up. We will have people form a line with six feet apart to take their turn to visit the memorial to still honor our Veterans,” Petron said.
Many cities, including Tamarac, host recreation sports every year. However, in the midst of the pandemic, the city and its residents learned the hard way that these sorts of leagues just aren’t plausible in the midst of a pandemic.
Tamarac planned to have a T-Ball season for kids ages 4–6, with games beginning November 7. Michael Rini, the Athletics Supervisor for Tamarac of five years, was navigating ways to have a T-Ball season, making adjustments such as shortening the season.
“Normally we have [the kids] play around 8–10 games. In the shortened season they will play about 4–5 games,” Rini wrote in an email. Rini then illustrated what were to happen it a child caught COVID while a game was set to take place. “Most likely we will postpone and reschedule the game if time allows at the end of the season,” Rini said.
Rini was also trying to work out what social distancing guidelines were going to be enforced, making decisions like how many people to allow in the crowd and whether to require testing or temperature checks for the children. But before the regulations were officially set, the season was cancelled on Oct 19 due to low enrollment.
“Unfortunately we did not get enough kids signed up to have a season and we had to cancel,” Rini said.
On October 2, Broward County released emergency order 20–27 which included key points regarding restaurants, bars, and gyms. On Tamarac.org, some of the main points include that individuals can take off their masks while working out, but must have them on when not engaged in physical activity, like moving from different machines. Bars can also operate a full capacity, but there are only six people max allowed at a table, and all parties must be six feet apart.
And on October 5, it was also announced on the city’s website that playgrounds and outdoor fitness areas will open again, but to ensure a safe and clean environment, all equipment will be sanitized every day. On October 12, it was announced the Caporella Aquatic Center would open their pool but keep the waterslide closed.
Now that December is here, family gatherings for multiple holidays and shopping for holiday gifts had increased, which is a cause for concern with COVID-19 cases on the rise. Broward County Mayor Steve Geller is expecting a huge spike because of holidays such as Christmas, Kwanza, and New Year’s. “We know that these are all super-spreader events and that during this time period, we are unfortunately expecting for COVID-19 to explode,” Geller said. Geller has also pushed for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to enforce a mask mandate not only in Broward, but in all of Florida, to prevent another shutdown.
The city of Tamarac is facing these challenges as they come. Until COVID-19 is under control, the city will continue to make sure residents are as safe as possible.
