COVID curfew puts a damper on bringing in the new year

WHEATLAND – Traditionally one of the biggest nights of the year for bars, clubs, pubs and gathering places, New Year’s Eve resembled just another Thursday night in the calendar year.
The regular New Year’s Eve gathering that usually packs the I-25 Sports Bar had just a handful of people come out for what they called, “a pregame warm up,” meaning the main event was to be held at a private residence rather than a bar.

Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in Wyoming, the governor not only extended the mask mandate to Jan. 25, but also put a 10 p.m. curfew on bars and restaurants.
“I guess the curfew was imposed because that’s when the ‘corona’ comes out,” said I-25 patron Darla Adams. “And if you feed it alcohol, it gets bigger.”
Bartender Rene Schouviller chimed in and said, “The ‘corona monster’ comes out at 10:01 p.m. and you better beware.”
The general consensus from the customers that night were the rules were wrongly imposed and there were many inconsistencies in the rules. Especially the masking, where they cited a football game where close-contact players didn’t have to wear masks, but referees had to.  Also, when the players came out of the game, they had to mask up, which sends a message that COVID-19 doesn’t live on the actual athletic surfaces.
The groups of people at most of the pubs in Platte County came in for what they called “pre-gaming” and most of the establishments were empty by 7 p.m. On a night that is usually a moneymaker for these establishments, it was another example of COVID-19 lingering into the last hours of 2020 and into the wee hours of the morning of 2021.
According to Schouviller three different police units have been into the bar in the last week cautioning them that if they broke the curfew it would be a $1,000 fine.