‘I wanted to be there’: Lake of the Ozarks expects more big crowds despite national backlash
The scene at Backwater Jacks Bar and Grill on Friday afternoon was much calmer than in the viral Memorial Day weekend videos of pool parties at the Osage Beach restaurant a week earlier. But the crowd was growing.
The videos, which gained national attention and outraged many over the holiday weekend, showed hundreds of people disregarding public health recommendations meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. People were seen crowding together into the outdoor restaurant area and pool areas.
Early Friday afternoon, a couple dozen people sat around tables in the restaurant’s outdoor seating area. The pool was calm compared to the week prior.
“I wanted to be there, honestly,” 18-year-old Lane Parker said of the videos he saw featured on TMZ. “I think it was pretty awesome, not going to lie.”
Though the recent high school graduate from Bowling Green wasn’t at Lake of the Ozarks for the Memorial Day festivities, he drove down to the popular central Missouri vacation spot with some friends a couple days later. He’s hoping to find some large parties similar to the ones he saw online at Backwater Jacks and other venues last weekend.
In a statement earlier this week, Gary Prewitt, the bar’s owner, said no laws were broken and recited part of an earlier statement from the local sheriff that said it was “the right and responsibility of each individual” to make decisions about going out in public.
“We must continue to social distance, use common sense and make responsible decisions to protect ourselves and others,” Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said, reiterating that enforcement of his order is up to local officials.
Over the weekend, Camden County Sheriff Tony Helms said those guidelines are not enforceable, saying, “Social distancing is not a crime and therefore the sheriff’s office has no authority to enforce actions in that regard.”
On Thursday, Parson extended the state’s social distancing order through June 15.
Parker wasn’t too concerned about social distancing or COVID-19 when he made plans to “just chill and have fun” at the lake.
“I’m a kid. I’m 18. I’ve been healthy,” Parker said. “I’ve played sports, so I don’t think I could get it, but if I did, I think it’d be easy to fight it and get rid of it.”
“What are you supposed to do?” he added. “Like, wait forever and not come? For a couple years? However long this lasts?”
Parker said he might self-quarantine for a week or so once he returns home Monday, but then added he probably won’t. He has to go back to work as part of a construction crew.
“I just miss how it used to be,” he said. “Coming out, not worrying about any virus.”
‘I knew it was going to be super crowded’
While Parker wished he could’ve joined the holiday parties, Michaela McDaniel purposely avoided the holiday crowds. She was concerned about the virus.
“I had an opportunity to come out, but I stayed away because I knew it was going to be super crowded,” said McDaniel, 41, of Kansas City. “I don’t like coming down when it gets crowded, even without the COVID thing.”
The bars were much quieter two weeks ago, she said, looking down from the parking lot at the outdoor seating section of Backwater Jacks where she was Friday. Music played over loudspeakers nearby as people slowly trickled in the door.
“I don’t think it was a good idea,” she said of the Memorial Day pool parties. “I thinks it’s too early.”
As of Friday, nearly 12,800 Missourians had been infected with the virus. More than 730 had died.
In the four counties the Lake of the Ozarks extends across — Benton, Camden, Morgan and Miller — a combined 60 people have tested positive for the virus. One person has died.
McDaniel carries hand sanitizer and avoided big crowds but also said she didn’t notice anyone coughing.
She headed back to Kansas City on Friday afternoon before the anticipated weekend crowds caravanned in.
Dylon Birdsong, 25, also headed back to Kansas City on Friday afternoon for work. He wasn’t wearing a face mask when he left Backwater Jacks. Neither were most people, he said.
“I feel like people don’t really care as much as a lot of other places,” Birdsong said.
But he wasn’t too bothered by it. Though he said he was probably at higher risk hanging out at lake businesses the past couple days, he wouldn’t have joined in on the crowded parties he saw last weekend.
He doesn’t think stricter rules would help.
“People are going to keep partying,” Birdsong said. “The government’s not going to stop it. Even if they do try to enforce it, if you can’t have parties out in public, you’ll just have parties in your house.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 4:45 PM.
