OLDS — A concert for seniors, held in the parking lot of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 105 in Olds was shut down because peace officers said there were more than 50 people in attendance.
Organizers weren’t so sure the crowd was that large or that it was that much of an issue, so Patti Bauer, a spokesman for the organizers and musicians, said they may voice their concerns to the town.
The concert was held in the afternoon of June 2 to help celebrate Seniors' Week.
Community services director Doug Wagstaff says the town received a complaint from Alberta Health Services at about 2:45 p.m. that day.
According to Alberta Health Services rules instituted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, no more than 50 people are allowed to gather in one outdoor location at one time.
And everyone in those gatherings must stay at least two metres from each other.
In an email, Wagstaff said when a peace officer arrived on-scene, “over 75 people were observed at the location. Social/physical distancing of two metres was not being adhered to.”
He said an AHS environmental and public health inspector was advised of the situation.
“The Town of Olds community peace officer asked the group to disband which they complied with without further incident,” Wagstaff wrote.
Bauer, a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 105 ladies auxiliary, said organizers got the idea to stage the concert back in April and obtained permission from the legion branch to hold the concert in its parking lot.
She said they’d been performing for about an hour when peace officers arrived and told them they’d have to shut the concert down.
Bauer said when it was pointed out that more than 50 people are allowed to go into big box stores, they were told the ability to shop in those stores is a necessity.
“And I said, ‘well to us, this is a necessity for the seniors,’” Bauer said.
“And this is Seniors' Week, so why couldn’t we do this for them? They were sitting together very close, yes, but they came together.
“Yes, maybe they should have been distanced a little bit better. Maybe we should have counted people as they came in, I don’t know.”
Bauer said organizers hope to hold another such concert, but she conceded that may not happen until next spring or summer, due to the pandemic.
Tom Bartholow of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 105 said he thought the decision to shut down the concert was maybe a little heavy-handed.
He said the Olds legion can have up to 140 people in its lounge because that’s 50 per cent of its capacity so he was surprised they weren’t allowed to have more than 50 in the parking lot.
Bartholow said he came on the scene shortly after the concert started.
“I didn’t think there was 50 people here, but as they get playing it’s going to increase,” he said.
He’s hoping they can do something similar later if the rules are eased and more people are allowed to gather together.
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