Oshkosh, WI boating event under scrutiny as photos, videos of crowds emerge on social media

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Oshkosh boating event under scrutiny as photos, videos of crowds emerge on social media

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2020/08/03/oshkosh-boating-event-criticized-facebook-photos-videos-emerge/5573712002/?itm_medium=recirc&itm_source=taboola&itm_campaign=internal&itm_content=RightRailArticleThumbnails-Redesign



Nathaniel Shuda Lydia Slattery


USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

OSHKOSH – An annual event on Lake Butte des Morts is under scrutiny after photos and videos surfaced over the weekend on social media showing large crowds during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Sand Bar Bash, an annual event that benefits Old Glory Honor Flight, was scheduled for Saturday. Photos and videos appeared to show a mass gathering with little social distancing.

Winnebago County health officials urged anyone who attended to be on watch for COVID symptoms and limit contact with others for 14 days.

The Oshkosh Northwestern cannot independently verify that all images were from 2020, though time stamps on multiple platforms indicate they were taken Saturday, the day of the event, which was promoted on Facebook and was listed on the Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau website.

A statewide mask mandate that went into effect Saturday applies only to indoors.

By Monday morning, photos and videos from the event's official Facebook page, along with the page itself and a related a Facebook event, had been removed from the social media platform.

State Department of Financial Institution records list Wayne Pettit of Oshkosh as the registered agent for Sand Bar Bash LLC. A former Winnebago County sheriff's deputy, Pettit retired in 2010 and organized an effort later that year to get write-in votes against Sheriff John Matz, who ran unopposed.

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