For now, the Bartholomew County 4-H Fair is still set for July 10 through 18, according to event officials.
This update comes at a time when some other Indiana county fairs, such as the Richmond-based Wayne County 4-H Fair, already have been canceled. Others, such as the Hancock County Fair, have been rescheduled.
And any decision to postpone or cancel the local, annual tradition because of the COVID-19 pandemic will be made as late as possible, said Mark Case, fair board president.
“Unless the authorities such as the governor tell us we can’t have it, then it’s going to be (held),” Case said. “But we want to wait as late as we can to see how all these things are going to shake out.”
The next 21-member fair board meeting is scheduled at 7 p.m. May 11 at the fair office. But that regular, monthly meeting was planned before Gov. Eric Holcomb’s orders against public gatherings of more than 10 people went into effect last month. The April meeting was canceled.
Case said he is uncertain if the meeting would be held through an online app such as Zoom if necessary since he’s unsure how many fair board members have used it.
“I don’t yet know if the board members are set up for it,” he said.
Case also mentioned that canceling the fair would mean a financial hit for organizers.
“If we don’t have a fair, we’d be hurting (financially),” he said. “That’s probably 90 percent of our income for the year. Between the midway money and the parking money, that takes us a long way.”
He said that a cancellation this year would at least slightly hurt the funding of a 2021 fair, too.
“We do have a contingency plan, just in case,” he said. “But, ideally, we don’t want to have to use it.”
The participation of local youngsters and students in the local fair is uncertain since the statewide Purdue Extension agency has canceled all in-person, face-to-face 4-H youth development gatherings through June. About 800 young people, from kindergarten age through 12th grade, participate in 4-H fair activities, from animal care to cooking.
A Purdue decision on July activities is expected by mid-May, according to Elisabeth Smith, extension educator for youth development for the local Purdue Extension office.
Smith also added that even if the fair is canceled, activities for those participants would be planned on other dates or via another format, such as online.
“Canceling that portion is not an option,” Smith said. “Counties with planned June fairs are working through those options now.”
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For information about the Jennings County Fair, scheduled for June, see Page A3.
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