It has been brought to our attention that some of you are upset about Friends canceling the Cracklin Cooking and Stir the Pot events for 2021 and that the Krewe of Palmetto has recently decided to cancel the Mardi Gras golf cart parade for this month and replace it with a campsite deco contest. We’ve decided to share with you some of the regulations that guided us to make these decisions.
1. In order to be a Friends group affiliated with the park and to conduct events on state property we have a defining cooperative endeavor agreement with Office of State Parks and a facility use agreement for each event which spells out the many ‘hoops’ that a Friends group has to jump through. Top of the list in these agreements is that LA State Parks requires us to carry insurance. This year’s policy now states that we must be in compliance with all local and state health guidelines including those related to Covid 19 and has actually excluded all coverage in regard to the virus.
2. Below you will find just a few of the current LA Governor’s Covid mandates that would apply to our events:
- Limit attendance of outdoor events to 150 people (cooks, volunteers, guests). Volunteers would have to count & screen attendees. So...if just the campground is full that alone accounts for 192 people. Would you want to be the volunteer telling a camper they can’t enter the event?
- Social Distancing and Mask wearing at public events applies to outdoors evens. The Governor expects us to ‘Manage the Crowd’. Part of that requires there be 1 volunteer for every 50 people to enforce mask wearing, social distancing and manage attendee movement. Ground marks would have to be placed every 6 ft. for guests to pick up portions of food, tickets, entrance, etc. Signage for masks and social distancing are required through out event.
- Volunteers would be required to clean the restroom and wipe down all tables and touched surfaces regularly through out the event.
- Cooks or volunteers would have to portion out the food that you are planning to taste. No buffet type of lines or service. A food consumption area would have to be designated. A “Beer Garden” would have to be designated, all alcohol consumption would have to take place within that area.
- No Dancing would be permitted.
- We’re required to have handwashing stations every 75 ft. The estimated cost to comply with this portion is over $3,000 for each event.
3. Even though all of our events are at the mercy of Mother Nature, we took great consideration into the timing of LA State Park’s cancellation fees. We apologize for the inconvenience or the change in your plans our decision may have caused. We hope that you choose to enjoy Palmetto Island State Park and all that it has to offer.
4. We all know the virus cases have risen throughout the winter holidays and the LA Governor’s actions in the past few months. We are led to believe that it’s not likely he would make adjustments to the phase guidelines that would allow us to host the events without these restrictions. All other organizations are cancelling upcoming similar type events.
Finally...If you consider the list above, you'll see, that it’s not just about keeping you (our guests) safe, we also have a responsibility to our organization and to the volunteers that make these events possible. After considering the open risk of liability to the organization, the additional burden of work and potential positions of confrontation for volunteers along with the added cost to comply with the regulations, Friends feels strongly that we made the right decision for everyone.
