Cardinal City pageants will have smaller audience

When San Bernardino High School's 2021 Mr. and Miss Cardinal City contestants take the stage Saturday, it will be to a much smaller audience than in the past, one without friends and classmates, but it's all in the name of COVID-19 safety.

The three Mr. Cardinal City contestants, 14 Miss Cardinal City contestants and pageant hosts and judges will be at San Bernardino's Sturges Center for the Fine Arts for the combined Cardinal City Pageants. Normally, the auditorium would also be filled with the contestants' friends, classmates, teammates, teachers and family members, but not this year.

“We're limiting the audience to just the contestants' immediate families this year. And the audience is being grouped and assigned seats by household, with empty seats between groups,” Eric Vetere, the safety and emergency manager for the San Bernardino City Unified School District, said in a news release.

“This is due to our community's COVID case rates and doing our part to slow the spread. And, of course, everyone in the audience will be required to wear a face covering, even if they are vaccinated,” Vetere said.

The Cardinal City Pageants are popular events for San Bernardino High School, whose mascot is the Cardinal.

In previous years, when the events were held separately, it was usually to a packed house. Missed pageants in 2020 and early 2021 because of COVID-19 restrictions resulted in this fall's combined pageant, which should have meant even bigger crowds than usual.

“Of course we would like to accommodate everyone who wants to attend. We know that the pageants are a matter of school pride for students and a lot of fun for the contestants' friends and family, but health and safety has to come first,” Jaime Rios, pageant director and bilingual school outreach worker, said in the news release.

“I'm just glad we are able to hold the pageants at all because I know it will be a big boost to the morale and mental health of our SBHS Cardinals, even if they can't all be there in person. And at least the contestants will have their close family members there to cheer them on,” Rios said.