While the COVID-19 pandemic local and national numbers are currently on a downward trend, community associations across the nation, much like the POA, are tasked with keeping in mind the safety, health, and well-being of their community members when considering hosting large scale events. While we are extremely optimistic, we remain cautious when making decisions regarding events that we host as we continue to follow “best practices” and CDC recommendations.
We have made the decision, not to host the 2021 3rd of July festivities (parade, concert, and fireworks) as well as the July 4th poolside celebration this year. This decision was made in an effort to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19, in addition to certain pandemic restrictions and additional costs that would be involved in executing a successful and enjoyable event as we have experienced in previous years. We have worked so hard as a community to combat COVID, and out of an abundance of caution, we felt that the best public health decision we can make at this time, is to not host these events.
While we know that the availability of vaccines and infection rates are trending in a positive direction, we also know that the July 3rd event is the largest event that we host annually, attracting thousands of attendees, and we did not want the first event that we host out of the gate since the pandemic began, to be our largest event. Other contributing factors that played into this decision were permitting requirements, crowd control, and the ability to implement social distancing effectively and efficiently, masking concerns, sanitization, security, and the costs involved with those additional efforts. When the decision was made not to host the event several months ago, we had researched other annual July 3rd and 4th events in Charleston that normally host concerts and fireworks shows and many of those municipalities at that time had chosen not to host their event this year.
We realize that this decision may not be a popular one, but we felt that it was the best public health decision we could make at this time. By continuing to remain vigilant against the virus now, we can look forward to hopefully hosting these and our other beloved community celebrations next year.
The POA will begin our patriotic decoration installations throughout the community over the next two weeks and we always enjoy seeing the patriotic spirit that so many of you put into decorating your homes. We encourage all owners to decorate the outside of their homes/units, porches, and lawns in a manner that shows patriotism and follows the themes of “Independence Day” and “America”. We look forward to the Exchange Club of Daniel Island, 6th Annual Field of Honor that will grace the River Landing Drive median area with a breathtaking display of 700 American flags from June 19 – July 11th in addition to honor flags that they will be installing at Guggenheim Terrace again this year. For more information on how you can participate and sponsor an honor flag or make a donation, click HERE.
We wish all of our Daniel Island families, a happy and safe 4th of July holiday!
