We are only a few weeks away from the start of the Allen County Fair — and I usually write an anticipatory column to incite excitement and attendance of the Fair.
Past columns have been along the lines of County Fair season is just around the corner! The week nearly every 4-H member has worked and waited for since the fair ended last year. It is a time of year when youth from across the county get together to showcase their projects, but more importantly, it is a time for 4-H families to be together.
The words be together strike me because they are the words that we are the most focused on in 2020 during a pandemic. We want to gather together to celebrate accomplishments and enjoy time with friends, but we just cannot.
Planning the 2020 Allen County Fair has been hard. Our Fair Board, Extension Board, and others have spent numerous hours on phone calls and Zoom meetings (because Extension has not been allowed to meet face-to-face until after July 4) trying to navigate schedules and keep some resemblance of a county fair that allows our 4-H members to showcase projects while keeping everyone socially distant and safe.
Did I mention this has been hard?
I believe those who have canceled their events or activities actually took the easy way out, because modifying the traditional county fair has been more challenging than we could have possibly expected.
I did not expect to face a global pandemic. I did not expect to have to modify the 4-H rabbit show because of the potentially fatal rabbit hemorrhagic disease. I did not expect to have to answer questions about Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) that has confirmed cases in Kansas and puts our horse show at risk.
The Dog Show at the Kansas State Fair has already been canceled, and we anxiously await what the State Fair will look like in 2020. This has been hard.
We want a normal county fair just as much as you.
I don’t know what normal is, or what it will look like by 2021. I am certain we will continue to plan the county fairs as an event for our communities that helps us recognize the importance of 4-H and agriculture.
Please understand that a new fair schedule is not the schedule we will follow until the end of time. We have made the best decisions possible with the information we had at the time. Fair results will be updated online, and we expect to utilize social media channels more than ever.
To discover more about your County Fair, find us on Facebook at Southwind Extension District. Agents have planned to conduct judging and showing activities to keep youth and their families safe.
Alternative virtual options will be available to those who uncomfortable attending in person. Mask wearing will likely be common, orpossibly required.
In the meantime, I hope you will continue to be patient and kind with each other and look forward to a day that we can be together again. I look forward to the day I can publish an article that highlights a fun 4-H activity — that includes families working and learning together.
