Great Northern Fair 2020 is canceled

At a special meeting Tuesday, the Great Northern Fair Board canceled the 2020 Great Northern Fair, making it the first fair cancelation in over a century of running, board Vice Chair Chelby Gooch said.

After discussing the issue and listening to comments from members of the public in attendance the board passed a motion 3-2 to cancel the fair.

Ron Konesky and Ray Kallenberger voted against the cancellation, while Gooch, and board members Tyler Smith and Josh Heitzenroder voted in favor.

Board member Jack Solomon was not able to attend the meeting.

At the meeting, some board members provided various concerns they about the fair moving forward, many of them centering around uncertainty regarding attendance.

Board Member Tyler Smith said the fact that there would be no carnival, and likely no rodeo, would make attracting people to the fair significantly more difficult.

"I really think this is important, because we're close enough now to the fair that we are really dependent on that carnival bringing people in and entertaining people, and now that's not a viable option," he said.

Hill County Extension Agent Jasmine Carbajal also said 4-H was considering not opening up the Chuckwagon due to the impracticality of sanitization and social distancing.

Dolphay also raised concern that an unpredictably low turnout could cause financial havoc for vendors ordering food.

"If you've got food booths open and nobody come, they you lose out on food and money," Dolphay said.

Gooch agreed and said her time as a member of the Havre Jaycees gave her some personal experience with trying to order materials and balance costs with turnout.

"It's just a lot of money that I don't want to see people spend (unnecessarily)," Gooch said.

She pointed out that the board had been running a survey on whether people would attend the fair, or whether vendors would be comfortable setting up there.

60 percent of respondents said they would attend the fair despite the pandemic, 40 percent said they wouldn't, and only 20 percent of respondents said they would be comfortable setting up as vendors.

Smith said that a fair with half of its normal attendees could be a worrying prospect for organizations that provide food for the sake of advancing their nonprofit goals.

"The reason these clubs do this is for a fundraiser," he said, "They're not doing it because they just love making French fries, they do it to make money to put back into the community, and if we have a half done fair and they don't even meet there costs we are not doing them a service."

Gooch lamented that the survey only had 165 respondents.

"I thought there would have been a lot more people taking that survey, just like today I would have thought that there would be a lot more people here," she said, "... This is a community fair and to not have the community here voicing their concerns, to me, is kind of heartbreaking."

The meeting was not devoid of public attendance.

Kyle Leeds, speaking for the Elks Lodge, offered the organization's support in manpower for sanitization, if the decision was made to hold the fair, in exchange for a donation to the lodge.

Leeds said the organization had not discussed the amount they were looking for, but was there to announce their potential support.

Kevin Holmes of the Havre Jaycee's on the other had expressed concerns about the practicality of enforcing social distancing and sanitization at the demolition derby, though he said his organization was split on whether or not they supported the cancelation of the fair.

Heitzenroder, who was appointed to the board last week, also raised his concern about enforcing social distancing.

"The hardest part for me on this is, it's a community atmosphere people have been grouped up, cooped up they're going to get together up here you're not going keep them apart," Heitzenroder said.

Smith agreed and said he doesn't want employees of the fair to act like a police force.

"Nobody wins in that situation," he said.

Board Member Ray Kallenberger pointed to Beaver Creek Park as an example of successful social distancing without the need for excessive enforcement, but Smith appeared to disagree that it was analogous.

Gooch also brought up that the health department said that tables in the food area of the fair would need to have washable cloth put over them and be regularly sanitized because wood cannot be sanitized.

"And I'm sure the wind wouldn't cause any kind of chaos whatsoever," Smith said, sarcastically.

"There's just so much that goes into the planning of this," he said.

Smith said beyond the potential financial and logistical issues surrounding the fair, the risk of COVID-19 itself remains.

"I'm okay if I make a decision here tonight and an adult gets sick, I'm not okay if I make a decision here tonight and a kid gets sick," he said.

Heitzenroder also said that there is a possibility that with mass testing becoming more and more available a spike in COVID-19 numbers may push the state back into Phase One, which would be a potential problem for the fair.

Kallenberger said there is also the possibility that Phase Three will start before the fair as well.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean said there are organizations like girls' clubs across the state that are still holding events that include concession stands.

"People are avidly ready to go do things," McLean said.

Smith said he'd been in contact with the head of the local Boys & Girls club who indicated that they would not be participating regardless of the decision made.

McLean also proposed that the high school and junior high school rodeo could fill the void of the open rodeo which might bring people in.

Leeds also encouraged the board to work closely with the health department and perhaps get a variance like the one that has allowed local sports teams hold events.

"Honestly, I think if you work with the health board you can make something work in some fashion," he said.

There was discussion of events that could possibly fill the void of the fair, including Leeds' proposal of a Taste of Havre-like event that he said would allow people to get their fix of fair food.

Kevin Holmes said the Jaycees would be happy to assist whatever events might fill the void.

No decision was made on what kind of events would take place on the fairgrounds over the next several years.