“Mask-uerade”
Partygoers ignore COVID guidelines
An event creator has stirred some controversy after hosting two large parties, two weekends in a row, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dane Cooper, a 28-year-old California native, who is building a business centered around creating events in Logan, said the point of his parties are to offer something to bored college students. These events are private and not sponsored by Utah State University.
“Everyone has been isolated for so long,” Cooper said. “We wanted to give people the chance to come out and celebrate with their friends.”
His first event, a party at the Castle Manor event center in Hyde Park on Sept. 4, provoked a frustrated response from a number of people on twitter after pictures and video emerged of party-goers without masks.
However, according to Cooper, everyone who was against the Castle Manor party “just doesn’t support Castle Manor events in general,” and describes the event as “85% successful.”
In fact, Cooper added, everyone at Castle Manor was wearing masks and social distancing until the last 30 minutes of the party.
“Once I realized that no one was taking precautions anymore, I actually got on the microphone and told everyone they were being selfish,” Cooper said.
Despite any difficulties with the party on Sept. 4, Cooper went ahead with another scheduled event, a festival at Cherry Peak Resort, just one week later.
The festival, according to Cooper, is something they are hoping to start doing on an annual basis. They are also hoping to make it a family event and create activities for people of all ages.
There were a number of small children, including babies, in attendance at the event.
“This event has been great so far,” Cooper said. “Everyone is social distancing and following COVID-19 guidelines. Except for masks.”
As Cooper spoke to the Statesman, a large group of college-aged students gathered close together, none were wearing masks.
Several minutes later, after people started dancing on a portable stage, a “mosh pit” of about 40-50 people formed.
Although Cooper admitted this behavior gave him some concerns, he said he would be stricter about enforcing mask guidelines and social distancing at the dance party taking place that evening.
“We are actually well under the number of people allowed at an outdoor event for a county that is in Yellow phase,” Cooper said. “We could have around 6,000 people if we wanted to. But we didn’t want to do that, we wanted to be safe.”
In total, there were approximately 100-150 people at the Cherry Peak Resort on Saturday night, including parents and their children.
According to the state’s coronavirus website, under guidelines for Events, Cultural Arts and Entertainment, it states that outdoor events are permitted to have up to 6,000 people and indoor events up to 3,000 people. However, when social distancing is not possible, event-goers are required to wear a mask.
When Cooper was asked if these types of events make him nervous, he paused for a moment and admitted he was scared for his mom.
“She has a few auto-immune issues,” he said. “So, I have to be careful around her after going to these parties.”
Many of the college-aged students who were at the party were not from Utah. Several large groups said they came from Idaho, Florida and several other states. However, there were still quite a few students from Utah State University.
“I’m not worried about COVID-19 at all,” Courtney Sechrist, a student at USU, said. “We came to party and we are having a great time.”
Her friend, Leanne Krop, a sophomore at USU, said she wasn’t worried either, and was only disappointed that they didn’t have the waterslide that was promised in the advertisement for the festival.
“I also like that there are not a lot of families here,” Krop said. “There are lots of college kids and it makes it more fun.”
A few students expressed more concern about their peers not social distancing and not wearing masks.
“We haven’t seen our friends in so long, we really needed this,” USU junior Baylie Hughes said. However, she admitted she had doubts about the festival before they came.
“We stocked up on hand sanitizer and masks before we got here,” recent USU graduate Kaia Holmquist said. “We have them in the car, just in case.”
The festival, which included activities like axe throwing, bungee jumping and a volleyball contest, also hosted a movie night featuring the 1996 classic “Space Jam.” A dance party in the Cherry Peak Lodge was held, as well.
The event cost $15 per person, and $35 for a VIP pass. The VIP pass allowed people the chance to go on Cherry Peak’s chair lifts that skiers usually take to the top of the mountain.
@cripe_taylor