White Covered Bridge Festival adopts ‘wait and see’ approach
Photo courtesy of JoAnne Marshall
Pictured is the White Covered Bridge in Garards Fort.
Photo courtesy of JoAnne Marshall
Pictured is the Carmichaels Covered Bridge.
The Covered Bridge Festivals in Greene County, traditional fall staples for area residents that celebrate the deep rural history of the landmarks in Carmichaels and Garards Fort with a full slate of food and crafts vendors, reenactments and live entertainment, have been unfortunately become another local event impacted by COVID-19.
The popular two-day festivals at the White Covered Bridge and the Carmichaels Covered Bridge near the Greene Academy of Art were scheduled to be held Sept. 19 and 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
The two Greene County bridges were slated to join 8 others in Washington County as part of the Washington and Greene Counties’ Covered Bridge Festival.
However, the committee for the Carmichaels Covered Bridge Festival announced recently that the 2020 event was being canceled, while the White Covered Bridge Association executive director Pat Walko, said Monday that the association would wait until its next meeting on Aug. 7 to make their final decision as to whether or not to cancel.
And, in a recent news release, Jeff Kotula, president of Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency, announced that the entire Covered Bridge Festival was being canceled, and said that although the festival attracts over 20,000 visitors a year to Washington County, the 2020 event could not be held because the current guidelines established by the Pennsylvania Department of Health limits events to 250 people.
JoAnne Marshall, director of the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency, said that even with the announcement by Kotula, independent organizations or agencies facilitate each location of the festival and the White Covered Bridge Festival’s Association members informed her in June that they wanted to take more time to decide the fate of this year’s event.
“While the event status of the White Covered Bridge Festival is still subject to change, the volunteers of the association are taking the next month to review solutions to continue with the White Covered Bridge Festival within the state guidelines and the safety of the community, participants and volunteers,” Marshall said.
Marshall added that the White Covered Bridge Festival is “very lucky and unique” that their association is made up of many volunteers who are dedicated to the event and “who live, eat and breathe this festival.”
She added that the majority of its members are also retired and have the flexibility that most event associations do not have.
“We recognize that not every festival site and organization has the opportunity to delay a decision like the White Covered Bridge,” she said. “The hours of labor and planning, the necessary space required for social distancing, and the protection of all involved with the festival must be considered.
“During these unprecedented times, our hearts are with the volunteers and participants that have to make the difficult situations for the best interest of everyone involved,” she added.
Walko said members held a meeting on July 7 and agreed to wait until the association’s next meeting on Aug. 4 to decide whether or not to hold the event. The public meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be held at the Greene Township Community Building.
Walko said the virus has affected the association’s scheduled meetings and plans for the festival, but the members continued to push forward.
“We met with JoAnne between the June and July meetings and came up with a proposal for a safety protocol for the festival,” Walko said. “At the July meeting, the board accepted the proposal and the majority agreed that they were comfortable with serving as volunteers for the festival if it went forward.”
Those safety protocols, she explained, are based on state Department of Health and CDC guidelines.
“We feel that with the space we have on the premises, with fewer vendors, we could continue with our plans to hold a safe festival,” she said. “This includes stringent efforts in sanitizing vendor tables, golf carts and portable bathrooms, and insisting that all vendors be extremely vigilant and offer hand sanitizing at their tables and step up their own safety protocols as well.”
She added that all volunteers will be asked COVID-19-related safety questions before they are permitted to assist at the event, and that “if they fail, they will not be able to work.”
Efforts will also be made to encourage social distancing and space out dining tables much further apart, she said.
Throughout the past few months, Walko said the association has been working with county officials to address and adhere to all safety measures, and the members are grateful for the officials’ support.
“This festival is so very important to everyone affiliated with our association and we would love to hold the 2020 event for residents, to provide some sense of normalcy during these uncertain times,” she said. “But we know that safety is the most important priority. If there should be some order by the state or another shutdown, we will have no choice but to cancel.
“That is why we are adamant when we say ‘wait and see’ and ‘proceed with caution,'” she said.
Updates regarding the White Covered Bridge Festival will be posted on the “WC Bridge Association” Facebook page. Information may also be found on the Greene County tourism website, www.visitgreene.org, or call the tourism office at 724-627-TOUR.
As for the Carmichaels Covered Bridge Festival, Marshall said the event’s association agreed earlier in the summer to cancel their festival due to COVID-19 concerns.
A message on the festival’s Facebook page posted on June 23 stated the following: “It is with regret … that the 2020 Carmichaels Covered Bridge Festival has been canceled. This was not an easy decision, but one the board of directors felt was appropriate. We hope all our vendors, friends and fans will hang with us until 2021 when we will celebrate our 50th festival a little late.”
The Messenger attempted to reach out to a representative from the Carmichaels Covered Bridge Festival for additional details, but calls were not returned by press time.
The White Covered Bridge was built in 1919 and an extensive refurbishing of the bridge was accomplished in 2008. In 2019, the association celebrated the 100th anniversary of the bridge’s construction with a commemorative plaque. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Carmichaels Covered Bridge, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979, was built in 1889 and was restored by the county in 1988.
The White and Carmichaels covered bridges are two of the seven covered bridges that remain standing in Greene County.