Everyone’s Talking About Café Rio

By Jondi Gumz

Aptos is atwitter over the live music that poured out of Café Rio on the Esplanade Sunday during the Memorial Day weekend while the county “shelter in place” order to slow the spread of the contagious coronavirus COVID-19 remains in place.

Some 250 people commented on the Aptosia Facebook page.

They ranged from “Freedom” and “I enjoyed it” to “Freedom to spread a deadly contagious virus” and “irresponsible and put our community at risk.”

When some blamed Café Rio owner Jeanne Harrison, radio host Neil Pearlberg fessed up. Here is his statement on Facebook:

“To those concerned, this was my idea to provide some music to the community and I did not realize it would gather such a crowd, for that I apologize. This was no fault of Jeanne Harrison or Café Rio Aptos, who has less of an idea than I did, please don’t take it out on her, and I hope one and all will continue to support her business that has been an institution in Seacliff/Aptos for many years.”

For some, the apology was not enough, as they pointed out the potential for a cluster of COVID-19 cases, as resulted from Mother’s Day family gatherings in Watsonville.

“Everyone wants normalcy again,” one man wrote. “We all try to sacrifice now so we can all achieve normal life again sooner and because we care about our fellow community members.”

“All of us need to follow the six-foot thing,” wrote one woman who enjoyed the music.

“Except hardly anyone was following the six-foot rule and most weren’t wearing masks,” another woman responded.

“I hope no one gets sick, or gets anyone else sick, as a result of gathering there,” one man wrote.

If that happens, the county’s contract tracers will know where to start looking.

The warm weather and the holiday weekend brought people out to the beaches to cool off – even though the county has closed the beaches from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day to prevent crowds from spreading COVID-19.

Ashley Keehn, the county sheriff’s spokeswoman, emailed a “beach closure reminder” Friday.

“We are seeing many visitors from the Bay Area, Central Valley and Sacramento area coming to the beaches with the interpretation they are open for leisure, but they are not,” she wrote by way of explanation.

More rangers and lifeguards were on duty for the weekend.

“We increased our staffing to educate and enforce the shelter-in- place,” said Gabriel McKenna, state parks superintendent for the Santa Cruz district office.

He said about 30 citations were issued over the weekend, carrying fines of hundreds of dollars to $1,000.

Some citations were alcohol related, he said, and some were issued to people in closed areas of parks that are closed such as the “Garden of Eden” swimming hole.

“It was definitely a holiday crowd,” McKenna said.

Sharks have been sighted in the waters near Sand Dollar Beach where Ben Kelly, a well-known surfer, surfboard shaper and local business owner, was fatally bitten May 9. Friends have raised $140,000 on GoFundMe.com for his wife Katie.

Last week, Marlene Wells posted a photo on NextDoor of a dark fin jutting out of the water at Seacliff Beach.

Then Specialized Helicopters, the Watsonville company that gives tours, reported seeing “an extraordinarily close call between an aggressive 15’ great white and a lone surfer,” circling and then diving until the shadow of the helicopter passed over the shark and it turned away from the surfer. “Take this as a serious warning,” the post concluded.

McKenna’s advice to surfers: “They need to be very careful and check with the lifeguards.”