FRUITPORT, Mich — After considering several alternative solutions, organizers made the call Tuesday night to cancel the 2020 Fruitport Old Fashioned Days festival due to COVID-19.
Pat Stressman, chairperson of the Fruitport Lions Club’s Old Fashioned Days committee, emailed the 23 other members earlier this month.
“I asked them what they thought, plus my reasons for thinking we should cancel,” she said. “I got responses back from most of my people, and they felt it was a good idea. There were a few who said ‘no’ – they felt we needed to wait until the end of April.”
The problem with putting off a decision, Stressman said, is that so many things need to happen between now and then for the festival to take place. She’s also concerned with government limits on large gatherings of people.
“The restrictions say no more than 250 people in one place until after the first of June, and we have a lot more than 250 people,” she said. “Some people said, ‘Let’s try to push it back to sometime in October,’ but I don’t want to do it in October. There are too many other things going on ... and you never know about the weather.”
Stressman said she is disappointed that the community is missing out on the fun the festival brings to Fruitport. She’s also concerned about the Lions Club’s ability to lend a helping hand in the community now that its major source of funds has been cut off.
“This is what gives the Lions Club most of their funds to help people in the community,” Stressman said. “We bring in about $70,000 from the festival. ... A lot of different organizations come to us asking for funds. We’ve been pretty free with our funds, but we’re just not going to be able to do that in the coming year.”
The Lions Club also hosts a Thanksgiving event, along with its Old Fashioned Christmas in December.
“We’re hoping we’ll have enough funds for those, and hopefully those will be able to continue on,” she said.
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