SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — You may be surprised to hear that a long-time Sioux Falls tradition that draws big crowds is still going on right now during the pandemic. Organizers of the annual Kingswood Rummage Sales first delayed it by a few months and then worked with City health officials before opening on Wednesday.
People living in the Kingswood area didn’t let a 42-year-long tradition end with the pandemic. This year started off like any other.
“It absolutely looks like a normal Kingswood sale. We were a little overwhelmed the first hour when we opened today. We had about 50 people gathered waiting for us to open when we open our doors,” seller Bridget Meyers said.
“I was concerned, but we’re out in the fresh air so I’m going to pick my battles,” shopper Briane Erstad said.
Dr. Jennifer McKay of Avera says if you do go, take basic precautions.
Quite frankly, the best thing to do is wear a face mask. It does two things for you—one is it keeps you from infecting anyone else. But it also provides a barrier to your face, right?”
Dr. Jennifer McKay, Avera
Our news camera captured a few people wearing masks, but not many. And then there’s the issue of handling other people’s stuff.
“It would be like touching anything else—touching money or anything else. I wouldn’t think about it on the scale that it’s worse than other stuff,” McKay said.
“We just bring hand sanitizer with us and when we get home we wash our hands and be smart about it,” Erstad said.
“We are sanitizing the table; sanitizing our hands for each customer. We are just asking people to social distance; however, it is extremely difficult when we have some of the crowd sizes we have,” Myers said.
The question that remains is whether crowd-drawing events like these will spike another wave of COVID-19 cases in the community.
“I think the difference is if there was a surge now, as compared to a couple of months ago—is that we are absolutely prepared and ready to be able to manage it,” McKay said
The Kingswood Rummage Sales run through Saturday. There are no porta potties available for shoppers this year due to COVID-19 concerns.
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