The Long Beach Antique Market has been operating at LAC’s Veterans Stadium since June, following a brief hiatus due to the statewide shutdown. Five months later, crowd sizes have been increasing at the market, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country.
The Long Beach Antique Market has been hosting events on the third Sunday every month at Veterans Stadium since 1982, and has been named the “best antique market in 2011” by the Press Telegram.
The Long Beach Antique Market frequently pops up on various travel websites of “what to do in Long Beach,” drawing public figures to check out vendors booths, like actors Courtney Cox and John Malkovich.
Marlene Drinkwine, vice president of Business Services at LBCC said, “The Public Health Department made a determination that they felt that outdoor swap meets under very specific restrictions … we always follow the public health department’s directives.”
The swap meet generates revenue for the district, said Drinkwine, and there was also a multi-year contract that would take months to resolve. For this reason, there were no negotiations or discussions regarding the appropriateness of continuing to host the swap meet. Once the agency involved agreed to comply with the safety order, they were allowed to reopen in June.
Long Beach City College has no authority to approve or plan the safety protocols in place, however, the school did receive a copy of the plan, said Drinkwine.
Drinkwine also said that the Long Beach Public Health Department holds jurisdiction regarding the city’s safety, and they are relied on to be those experts in determining what is or is not a safe activity.
Drinkwine additionally stated that she was not aware of any concern from the public, and did not have a comment regarding if LBCC condoned or supported the swap meet.
The market adheres to strict guidelines to preserve the well being of visitors and vendors. They have multiple signs at the event to remind guests to maintain social distancing and to wear a mask. They have also published health guidelines on their website to see additional information.
California operates on a color-coded tier system to show which counties are in high and low infection rate areas. Yellow counties are those with minimal infection rates, progressing to orange, red and then purple, which means the infection is widespread. Long Beach has been in the purple tier due to high infection rates and COVID related deaths.
According to multiple reports that were published on October 23rd tells a stark message that COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are on the rise again and are at levels that have not been seen since July. On October 22 the highest number of cases were reported in the U.S. which was over 77,000 reported cases. That beats the nations high which was just over 75,000 on July 29.
With the rise in COVID-19 cases nationally, that hasn’t stopped visitors from going to the antique market and according to Ralph Picon, who has been selling goods at swap meets as a hobby for over 25 years, said, “More people are venturing out with a mask of course, social distancing, but I feel people are coming out to get fresh air … but more people are coming out.”
Ralph Picon shared a booth with his son, who was selling custom made wood furniture pieces to cutting boards, and Picon sold antiques such as plates and toys. They used the time to be together as well as to interact with the public.
Picon “enjoys talking to people and interacting with folks,” and that safety is a concern for everybody at the market. “The people here at Long Beach insist on us bringing hand sanitizer, I like that, wear a mask, to make sure that everyone is safe.”
