The beaches were packed, business was good and no one was arrested for drunk driving in Seal Beach this Labor Day Weekend.
Good weather brought people to the beach and shops of downtown Seal Beach this weekend. Good weather on land was credited with bringing the crowds and mild surf was credited with comparatively little Lifeguard activity.
“It was a crowded weekend,” said Joe Bailey, chief of Seal Beach’s Marine Safety (Lifeguard) Department.
He said the beaches were packed all three days. The parking lots were all full by 10 a.m. Lifeguard towers remained open until 7 p.m. because of the crowds. Bailey said normally lifeguard towers close at 5 p.m.
Bailey believed it was 2 degrees cooler at the beach than inland, which may have accounted for the crowds.
Bailey said there were 17 rescues this Labor Day weekend, which was not many by holiday standards. He attributed the low numbers to mild surf, saying that otherwise there might have been 30 rescues a day.
Four people had medical emergencies that required hospital treatment.
There were five lost children reported that weekend, a large number for Seal Beach, which Bailey attributed to the crowds on the beach. There were only 11 stingray injuries this weekend, which is an unusually low number for the town sometimes known as “Ray Bay.”
“We basically lucked out on the tides this weekend,” Bailey said.
There was also one boat rescue, when a boat ran aground at the Surfside Colony at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 31.
The Seal Beach Police Department saw very little holiday-related activity.
“I’ve got nothing for DUI arrests, if you can imagine such a thing,” said Sgt. Ron La Velle, public information officer for the SBPD.
While there were zero DUI arrests in Seal Beach on Labor Day Weekend, there was one arrest of a woman for being drunk in public.
But if things were quiet on the law enforcement front, business seems to have done well.
Deb Machen, president of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce, said she heard from a couple of restaurants that business was good.
Rob Jahncke, owner of Javatinis Espresso on Main Street, said it was his best Labor Day weekend in three years. Monday, Sept. 2, was stronger than the previous two days. That was a departure from years past, when Labor Day weekend business usually dropped off on Monday.
“I think the heat had a lot to do with it,” Jahncke said.
However, he also said the shops on Main Street are more interesting and that is why they come here.
