It’s official, America gets a birthday party

SANDPOINT — It’s the final hour for the city’s Fourth of July celebration and organizers Ron Korn and Steve Wasylko have managed to jump through every COVID-19-infected hoop.

“We’ve got something else working against us this year, which is COVID-19,” Korn said at the July 1 city council meeting. “We are trying to do as much as we can on our part to make sure that everything is as safe as it can be.”

City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton gave a presentation to update residents and city council on confirmed COVID-19 cases locally and statewide, as well as guidance on safety protocol for Saturday’s event. She said the main concern from residents has been the potential traffic from out-of-town attendees, where major events were canceled to discourage large group gatherings in their cities and towns.

“We are not the only game in the region for Fourth of July activities,” Stapleton said. “We are seeing them begin to crop up in other places.”

Recently, the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce fireworks show was canceled. Other event cancellations in surrounding communities such as Spokane and Post Falls had locals concerned about Sandpoint being the only regional event for the holiday weekend.

“We saw an announcement in the last couple of days about the (a) Coeur d’Alene hotel holding their own fireworks,” Stapleton said. “In Post Falls we have seen reports of fireworks now being held at Stateline Speedway (Stadium). We saw fireworks canceled down in Spokane and then in the last couple of days we have seen announcements about drive-in fireworks displays there, and some other locations as well.”

In many ways, city officials said visitors are already in Sandpoint, as noted by the numerous out-of-state license plates spotted in the past few weeks.

“In case you were wondering, they are already here,” Councilman Joel Aispuro said laughing with the other council members. “They just came early,”

This year, to minimize health risk, the Fourth of July activities will not include the watermelon spitting contest. Volunteers at the event must have their temperature taken prior to working their shift and sign a release form that affirms they have not been in close contact with an infected COVID-19 person.

Sandpoint Chief of Police Corey Coon also spoke at the July 1 meeting to educate the public on Fourth of July event guidelines. “It’s some of those reminders that are challenging to enforce,” Coon said. “The dogs, the alcohol, the fireworks actually can be a problem on the beach at night.”

He said all of his police officers will be working a day or night shift and more officers will be visible during the parade than previous years. This is because of an anticipated larger crowd.

With more people, Coon expressed concern of residents committing safety hazards such as the use of pop-its.

“They get bigger and bigger every year,” Coon said. “They become louder … and more dangerous every year. When you have a large crowd of people running around and kids are lighting sparklers or throwing pop-its or stuff, there is potential for injury.”

City officials are not requiring masks to be worn at the event, but social distancing protocol will be encouraged by signs at City Beach. In the days leading up to the event, the city has posted reminders on their Facebook page of prohibited activities at City Beach. The list includes glass containers, dogs, drinking or consuming beer or any other intoxicated beverage, overnight camping, fireworks, and more. Beach access will be restricted after 7 p.m. and Coon encouraged citizens to park outside of City Beach and walk down to break up traffic.

Although Korn and Wasylko have been politically vocal in the past few council meetings, Korn wanted to assure attendees that this event remains neutral and the focus is on the birth of the United States.

“I want to reassure everybody, the city, the community, that our beliefs aren’t at play,” Korn said. “There is no agenda, there is no special interest on our part.”

“This day is about celebrating America’s birthday, plain and simple,” he said. “If you’ve got something else in mind then we are not going to allow it.”

Aly De Angelus can be reached by email at adeangelus@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @AlyDailyBee.