No Colfax Free Fair this year
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — For the first time since 1943 during World War II — 77 years ago — there will be no Colfax Free Fair this summer.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, even by the end of June, it could still be risky, said Steve Ackerlund, president of the Colfax Fair Board.
No one knows when the COVID-19 infections will peak in Wisconsin, in West Central Wisconsin or in Dunn County.
But even after the coronavirus infections peak, it will still be awhile before people will be able to stop social distancing, Ackerlund noted.
While COVID-19 itself is the underlying reason for canceling the Colfax Free Fair, originally scheduled for June 18 to June 21, many other COVID-19 related issues influenced the Colfax Fair Board’s decision as well.
Consider the local businesses in Colfax.
While the fair is still a couple of months away, that’s when the fair board starts sending out sponsor letters to the businesses in Colfax and the surrounding area, Ackerlund said.
The businesses cannot be asked to sponsor a fair that may or may not take place if the fair board were to delay in making a decision on whether to cancel the fair, he said.
But there are other factors related to the businesses and the local economy, too.
Governor Tony Evers and Angela Palm, secretary-designee of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, issued a “Safer at Home” order that went into effect March 25.
Prior to the Safer at Home order, the governor had ordered schools to be closed March 18, had urged people who can work from home to telecommute, and had ordered certain businesses to be closed, including hair salons, and taverns and restaurants, which are allowed to do take-out/curbside food orders only.
The Safer at Home order also included the closing of additional businesses, such as fitness centers, and non-essential retail stores, which includes antique shops, clothing stores and gift shops.
Other places, such as doctors’ offices, dentists’ offices and veterinary clinics, can remain open, but they must maintain social distancing (defined as staying six feet apart) to avoid close contact among their patients and clients. The American Dental Association, for example, has recommended that dental clinics close and only be available for emergencies.
By the first week in April, 10 million people had filed for unemployment in the United States, and the federal government had passed coronavirus economic stimulus legislation that included a one-time $1,200 payment that some people might not receive for up to four or five months.
With many of the businesses in and around Colfax being closed or, as in the case of restaurants and taverns, trying to operate only on take-out orders, the Colfax Fair Board could not, in all good conscience, ask those businesses for money to support the Colfax Free Fair, Ackerlund said.
Placing another financial burden on businesses that normally donate to sponsor the fair, “is not a good idea right now,” he said.
Without the business sponsors who have always so generously supported the Colfax Free Fair — there would be no fair, Ackerlund noted.
“It is the local businesses that make the fair happen,” he said.
Carnival
Another consideration is the carnival that provides rides and concessions on the midway at the Colfax Free Fair.
Even if the members of the Colfax Fair Board could see their way clear to postpone the fair until later in the summer or early fall, “it’s not a real possibility to delay,” Ackerlund said.
The carnival has a certain route that it follows as it works its way around the country, and if the Colfax Free Fair were to be rescheduled, it is highly unlikely the carnival would be available to come to Colfax on a new date, he said.
The same would be true for other carnivals.
“It would either be that carnival or none,” Ackerlund said.
And then there is the issue of the bands that are booked for evening entertainment at the fair.
If the bands are booked, and the fair board decided later on to cancel the fair, the bands would still need to be paid, and that would create a financial burden for the American Legion, Ackerlund said.
Fair exhibitors
A portion of the activity at the Colfax Free Fair centers on the projects and animal exhibits from 4-H club members and FFA members.
4-H and FFA members have already been working on raising their animals for the fair, and if the fair board delayed making a decision on canceling the fair, the 4-H and FFA kids would have put just that much more feed and time into raising their animals, Ackerlund said.
By canceling the Colfax Free Fair now, the animal exhibitors have the option of selling those animals now to reduce the amount of money they have put into something that, if the fair board decided later on to cancel the fair, could not be exhibited and could not be sold on the Colfax FFA Alumni Auction, he said.
If the fair board wanted to try to delay the fair until fall, 30 or 40 people would be raising their animals over the summer, but there still would maybe be no fair, Ackerlund said.
“It would not be a happy ending there, either,” he said.
Unemployment
There is no way to predict how long some businesses will be shut down, which means there is no way to predict how long people are going to be unemployed.
If the Colfax Fair Board decided to go ahead with the fair in June, it is entirely possible people might not have money to spend on going to the fair, Ackerlund said.
If people do not have money to spend, that would have an impact on the carnival, and it would have an impact on the concession stands, including the FFA fair stand and the Holden Church fair stand, as well as the FFA Alumni Auction and on the American Legion beer tent/refreshment stand.
One suggestion on the Colfax Free Fair’s Facebook page was to hold a “virtual” auction for the young people who are raising animals.
But there again, Ackerlund said, by the time the animals are ready to sell, would people or businesses have the money to buy them?
When the COVID-19 crisis is past and businesses are able to open again, it will take a while for both the employees and the businesses to catch up, he said.
In the end, after considering all of the different factors that go into holding the Colfax Free Fair, “the best thing to do is completely cancel it now,” Ackerlund said.
And with any luck at all, “we’ll be able to start fresh next year,” he said.