Lynden summer events take wait and see approach despite county’s coronavirus suggestion
Summer has not been canceled in Lynden — at least not yet.
Event organizers in the city are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to following a recommendation by the Whatcom County Health Department to cancel all summer events in an effort to minimize the spread of COVID-19 through the community and maintain recent gains.
On Wednesday, April 15, one day after health department Director Erika Lautenbach recommended all summertime events in Whatcom County be canceled, Northwest Washington Fair Manager Jim Baron told The Bellingham the fair would work with county officials to “determine the most prudent course of action,” but did not say the fair has been canceled.
A day later, the Lynden Chamber of Commerce announced in a Facebook post that it will delay canceling its summer events, which include the June 6 Lynden Farmers Day Parade and the July 17-18 Northwest Raspberry Festival. The Raspberry Festival includes the annual Curt Maberry 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament.
“This message is NOT a repudiation or dismissal of Director Lautenbach’s recommendation,” chamber Executive Director Gary Vis wrote in Thursday’s post. “In fact, we applaud both her concern with our community’s health and her willingness to communicate what she knew would be an unpopular decision. We deeply appreciate the vital work and tremendous dedication of the Whatcom Health Department, and the numerous organizations and individuals that are involved in preventing the spread of this awful virus.”
The reason for the delay, Vis went on to write, is because coronavirus assessments are still changing rapidly, and the parade and festival have a “powerful and direct impact” on the Lynden economy and local businesses.
The chamber will wait until the dates are closer to decide whether to cancel or postpone the events, Vis reported.
“As mitigation rules evolve, there MAY, and we must repeat MAY, be a very slight opportunity to modify aspects of the parade or Razz Fest in order to allow the events to continue, while meeting any health and safety requirements deemed essential and prudent,” Vis wrote.
Despite holding off, Vis said the chamber would err on the side of caution when it does have to make a definitive decision.
“We at the Lynden Chamber of Commerce would not want one of our events to be the reason to extend or re-implement the devastating mitigation measures that have occurred to our community and our members, and many others in the business community,” Vis wrote.
The chamber’s announcement to wait and see garnered early praise from commentors on Facebook, with some thanking them for “not jumping on the premature bandwagon.”
Despite seeing recent positive effects from social distancing efforts, Lautenbach recommended in a release Tuesday, April 14, that all parades, community festivals and fireworks displays in Whatcom County be canceled to ensure that the coronavirus doesn’t re-emerge in large numbers.
“I recognize that this recommendation creates considerable disappointment,” Lautenbach said in the release. “However, the long-term health of our community and our economy could be further damaged if we move too quickly to resume the activities that we know will put us at risk.”
In announcing the decision about the Aug. 17-22 Northwest Washington Fair on Wednesday, Baron told The Herald that it already works closely with the county health department and local law enforcement to put the event on annually.
“Right now, there are hundreds and hundreds of young people purchasing and preparing animals — pigs, beef, chickens — for participating in this year’s fair,” Baron wrote in an email. “We are going to do everything we possibly can to not disappoint them.
“The fair has served as a community gathering place for over a century, and we look forward to celebrating together again as soon as it is deemed safe to do so.”
Other Whatcom events
Like the Lynden organizations, many other Whatcom County events are beginning to make some difficult choices following Lautenbach’s recommendation. While some groups told The Herald they are meeting this week to discuss options, others have already made decisions:
▪ Ski to Sea: Whatcom’s signature relay race has been canceled in 2020, event organizer Whatcom Events announced in late March.
▪ Blaine Old Fashioned 4th Celebration: Blaine’s Independence Day celebration in downtown and at the Blaine Harbor have been canceled, according to the event webpage run by the Blaine Chamber of Commerce.
▪ Bellingham Festival of Music: The 27th summer season, originally scheduled for July 1-24 at the Western Washington University Performing Arts Center, has already been canceled, according to a press release on the event’s website.
▪ Bellingham Bay Marathon: With more than five months remaining before the Sept. 27 race day, event organizers told The Herald in an email that they are still planning to hold the race at this time.
▪ Old Settler’s Weekend: The City of Ferndale in a Facebook post Wednesday announced that it has canceled both Old Settler’s Weekend and the Ferndale Street Festival. All parks and recreation activities or other large gatherings have been canceled through Aug. 31.
