COVID takes toll on Avoyelles community fall events, activities

When the coronavirus reared its ugly, microscopic head in Avoyelles Parish this past March, there were those who believed they would be knocking and hunting eggs Easter weekend.

They were wrong.

Like dominoes the spring festivals fell - - Simmesport's revived River Festival, Hessmer's Cajun Crossroads Festival, Mansura's Cochon de Lait Festival, the Tunica-Biloxi Pow Wow, Bunkie's Corn
Festival, the Zydeco & Blues Festival in Cottonport and Marksville's Avoyelles Arts & Music Festival/Independence Day events.

There were probably other events brushed aside by COVID.

There were comments that missing the spring and summer events would make the fall and winter festivals that much better. There was even some hope that one or more of the "postponed" events could be
held in the fall.

Also wrong -- so far.

DOMINOES FALLING AGAIN
Here we are in Phase 3, and the dominoes are falling again.

Church fairs, school fairs, Halloween events, non-profit charitable fundraisers usually held during this season have already started "calling in sick."

Will COVID still be hanging around when we're hanging mistletoe, ornaments and stockings? Will the Extravaganza be called off? Will there be a Christmas with
no Cottonport festival? Is such a thing even possible?

Is it possible there will be no family-friendly events for families to attend during the month of Hallo-give-a-mas -- Oct. 31-
Dec. 30. No Halloween, no Thanksgiving, no Christmas festivities?

Will voting on Nov. 3 and high school football games -- with reduced seating capacity -- be the only opportunities to go somewhere this Autumn?

Like the lyrics of a catchy little song from many years ago tell us, "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

VICTIMS OF COVID

So many community events for families to enjoy -- and so many fundraising events that support the activities of schools, churches, non-profit groups and community organizations -- are as much a victim of
COVID as those infected by the virus.

What will another lost festival season mean to this parish and the organizations that depend on these events?

"In 2020, everything has come to a halt," Avoyelles Tourism Commission Director Wilbert Carmouche said. "Now everyone is in the process of figuring out what to do. They are having to find creative
ways to do things while remaining compliant with the governor's requirements as we go through the phases of returning to normal."

Carmouche noted the annual fairs, festivals and fundraisers are an anticipated and enjoyed part of life in Avoyelles.

Churches, schools and non-profit organizations are particularly vulnerable, even in the semi-quarantined environment of Phase 3.

Carmouche said these organizations have to rely on voluntary donations to cover the loss of revenue from the fairs, festivals and fundraisers until "at some point we return to the freedoms we had
before COVID."

Ever the optimist, knowing the sun is somewhere behind those dark clouds, Carmouche said he is "hopeful we will be able to give thanks at Thanksgiving that things have gotten better."

Some of the events cancelled this fall include:

NON-PROFITS

STEPScenla's annual Color Run in downtown Marksville has been postponed due to COVID. That organization is dedicated to helping children with life-threatening illnesses in Central Louisiana.

SaveCenla, a non-profit focused on suicide prevention/intervention and mental health awareness, also canceled its Oct. 10 "Walk Into The Light" fundraising event in downtown Marksville.

SaveCenla co-founder Angie Dixon said the event will be held next Spring. The Avoyelles-based organization recently held a "Lifting for Life" fundraiser/awareness event at Iron Gym in Marksville.

Despite a pandemic and hurricanes, SaveCenla has continued providing two-day workshops, with workshops scheduled in Vidalia, Pollock, Pineville and Winnfield over the next six weeks.

Art in the Rafters, the Avoyelles Arts Council's main fundraiser and membership drive, has been bitten by the COVID bug, as has the annual Pink October event to support breast cancer research.

HALLOWEEN

The next major holiday with community events is Halloween. What makes it particularly disheartening is that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. It was the same for Marksville's 4th of July festivities, which got knocked out by COVID earlier this year.

So far the Marksville Chamber of Commerce and the city's Haunted House, which are usually coordinated to maximize visitation, have been canceled.

Hessmer's annual candy giveaway in the former Hessmer High gym is still on go, but town officials will be making a final decision at the Oct. 5 Village Council meeting.

The newspaper has not heard from other community, church and organization Trick-or-Treat events. A list of events being held and those that will be canceled will be
printed closer to Halloween.

SCHOOL/CHURCH FAIRS

Catholic school and church fairs that are traditionally held in the Fall have been canceled or adjusted to comply with COVID-suppression protocols.

Taking a hit on needed revenues, some schools are coming up with other ideas for the lost fundraising.

Rev. Scott Chemino, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua and the Alexandria Diocese's vicar general, said the diocesan policy is to "follow the precautions of COVID restrictions as closely as possible. We are not promoting open fairs, as we have had in the past. We would recommend covered dish dinners on Saturday or Sunday, drive-thru and to-go only, served in styrofoam plates. Those preparing the plates or handing them to
customers are to have their masks on and maintain 6-foot distancing."

On his own church's activities, Chemino said there will be no church/school fair, but the Bunkie Knights of Columbus chapter's annual BBQ dinner on Nov. 8 will help make up some of the financial loss. That dinner
will be drive-thru only at the KC Hall.

"I am proud of our record of maintaining safety for everyone," Chemino said.

Although there will be a financial impact, and many will be disappointed that there isn't the traditional fair, Chemino said the church and school "will be coming out as best we can. I am remaining positive that we will soon return to a normal life for our community of faith."

Sacred Heart School in Moreauville will continue with its Fall festival on Oct. 17-18, but it has made adjustments.

Dinners will be served drive-thru rather than sit-down. The festival will still feature a silent raffle and the grand raffle.

St. Mary's Assumption School in Cottonport has not had a school fair for the past few years, but does have raffles in the Spring and Fall.

BORDELONVILLE, ECHO EVENTS
Perhaps one of the biggest church fairs in Avoyelles Parish is the St. Peter's/St. Michael's Fair in Bordelonville.

Not only does the event -- which would've been held Sept. 19-20 -- attract community residents in Bordelonville and Rexmer, but also people from around the parish and out-of-parish.

Rev. Louis Sklar, St. Peter's pastor, said missing this year's event will have a two-fisted impact.

"It does have a financial impact on the church, but it also has a very great impact on those who look forward to this event every year," Sklar said.

He said the church hopes to hold a fair in the Spring and may have one or two smaller fundraisers later this year to try to make up some ground lost due to the fair's cancellation.

Another major September church fair is St. Francis de Sales Church's event in Echo on the last weekend of the month. It also fell victim to COVID.

Event organizer Randy Guillory said the church members haven't discussed whether a fair will be held in the Spring or if the church will just wait until next September to hold the event.

"We will wait and see what happens with the virus," he said.

One thing that doesn't wait is the need to pay bills for the church operation and maintenance.

"This will hurt," Guillory said. "Right now we are planning a Fall collections drive, to encourage giving, but it won't come close to what the fair would have generated."

Guillory said the church is considering small Sunday dinner fundraisers later in the year.

ST. JOSEPH SCHOOL

St. Joseph High School is expecting to take a financial hit due to the canceling of its Oct. 10-11 fair, but "it hasn't hurt the community morale," Principal Billy Albritton said. "We are having people stepping up all over, volunteering for other activities."

The school will have a drive-thru/to-go dinner on Oct. 11, "which won't replace the Sunday cochon de lait dinner we usually have, but it will help," Albritton said.

"We will miss the revenue from having people on campus buying refreshments at the beer booth, the burger booth, and such," the principal said. "We will have a virtual auction on Saturday (Oct. 10) where we will put items in the gym, take photos of them, post them online and keep up with the bids online. We will determine the winners that Saturday night."

Albritton doesn't try to sugar-coat the situation, but is hoping for the best.

"Financially, we will take a hit," he said. "However, if we are smart in handling the money and with our expenditures, maybe we can come close to the same profit margin we would have had with the fair. We don't know for sure. We are in uncharted waters with this fair as opposed to having people on campus."

Albritton said there had been some discussion about holding the fair in the Spring, but "it is such a tradition, we have decided to keep the fair on the second weekend of October.

"COVID may have thrown us a curve," he said, "but St. Joseph is just going to curve along with it and make it work."