Bear City Festival Cancelled

The 2020 Bear City Festival, tentatively slated for October 3, has been cancelled. The festival is helmed each year by the Willow Springs Chamber of Commerce.  Board members for the Chamber came to the unanimous but “difficult” decision to cancel the festival this fall, said Chamber of Commerce President Andrea McNew. 
McNew cited concerns about the recent community spread of COVID-19 cases in Howell County as well as the “unknown aspect” of what could happen at a large scale community event like the Bear City Festival. 
In an email to the vendors who have participated in the festival in years past, McNew said she and the other Chamber Board members “voted to follow the recommendations of the Howell County Health Department and Willow Springs City Council and cancel the 2020 festival.”
“This decision was not made lightly,” the email continued, “We understand that there will be different opinions on the importance and safety of hosting community events during this time.  The focus of the Willow Springs Chamber of Commerce will always be to support our local community and businesses.  At this time we do not feel that we can responsibly move forward with hosting a large community event.”
In making this decision, the Chamber of Commerce approached the City of Willow Springs for a recommendation. City Administrator Beverly Hicks in turn contacted the Howell County Health Department. According to Hicks, the Health Department does not consider the Bear City Festival to be a “necessary or essential program.” There would be no way to control or enforce social distancing or other recommendations from the Health Department to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and many of the participants would be coming to Willow Springs from other areas, she said. 
The Howell County Health Department has been reporting new cases of COVID-19 due to community spread almost every day for weeks. This is a change from the beginning of the pandemic, when 100% of the local cases were spread through direct contact.  
The City Council communicated with Hicks informally, outside of a public session, and “it was their strong suggestion not to have [the festival],” said Hicks in an interview. 
“It was not a hard no,” she clarified. She said perhaps the biggest way the municipal government can support local businesses is not to support community events that could cause an outbreak that could prompt another shutdown. 
“I think we need to move on and have businesses open, but I don’t know how to do that with having a festival,” Hicks said.
The Great Balls of Fireworks show was also scheduled to take place October 3, but organizers at the Eleven Point Volunteer Fire Department share the same concerns as the Chamber of Commerce about hosting a large community event. As of Friday, August 7, Fire Chief Frank Vanhorn confirmed the fireworks show could still happen, adding the caveat that the plans could very possibly change in the near future.

Howell County News

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