Board votes to postpone Tri-County Fair

If you're keeping count, the official score is COVID-19 1, Carnegie Tri-County Fair 0 over the past two summers. Ummm ... better make that 1 1/2 to 0.

Members of the Carnegie Tri-County Free Fair Board voted to postpone the 2021 event in response to heightened COVID-19 concerns. Recent cases of the highly contagious virus were confirmed in the community earlier this week, prompting the board to push back the annual event due to safety concerns.

"We are sick (about postponing the fair)," said Kelly Williams of the board's decision. "We have all put a lot of work into getting this ready, but it is something we feel needs to be done. We couldn't wait until next week to make the decision because some of our vendors would have already purchased their stuff."

The postponement marks the second year in a row the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the fair. Last year's event was canceled due in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus.

Williams said the board stressed it was not canceling the 2021 fair, only postponing it out of concerns for the public's safety. Board members are hoping conditions have improved enough later this fall, possibly in October, to stage the event.