Can’t gather for wine but take a look at art

After a wave of good-sized public events actually took place in July and August, many venues and civic groups are once again scrubbing face-to-face events from their calendars.

The Skagit County Fairgrounds was able to hold its annual fair and house the Bike MS Deception Pass Classic, but cancelled its Fall Garage Sale.

Skagit Fire District 2 decided not to hold its annual spaghetti feed on the first Saturday in October. “It’s amazing how many people we can pack into our fire hall for the spaghetti feed,” said firefighter Jason Vanderkooy. “Probably not a good idea right now.”

After the pandemic quashed two previous dates, Irish poet Tony Curtis was scheduled to appear at Bertelsen Winery last weekend for a fundraiser for the Skagit River Poetry Foundation. “Now Tony can’t even get into the country,” said SRPF director Molly McNulty.

The La Conner Classic Boat and Car Show took place August 7 in spite of rain. The Brew on the Slough event planned for this coming weekend is a non-starter.

“The economics of cancellation are hard,” said Heather Carter, director of the La Conner Chamber of Commerce. “We work hard to get people to come and visit La Conner in a safe way, but as we push into 2022, just coming and walking around isn’t going to be enough. We need our events back.”

Also frustrating: “A year ago we were all talking as if COVID would be done by now, that things might be getting back to normal. Now there’s still a huge question mark.”

The question mark is the wisdom of moving ahead on large indoor events – especially with food.

Allen Rozema, director of Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, said deciding to cancel its September auction was easier last year, when guidance from all levels of government was very clear.

This summer, it was “a moving target.”

“Our desire for a face-to-face event was so strong, we waited until the last minute to cancel,” he said. “We finally realized that if we were serving beverages and food it would fundamentally be an unmasked event. The auction committee and board felt we couldn’t take the risk.”

“My heart goes out to people who had fairs and events in September,” said Skagit County Fair manager Aric Gaither. “They thought they were going to be the safest, but they got stuck.”

All fairground events since March 2020 and after the 2021 Skagit County Fair have been cancelled. The Fair was greenlighted in May by the Skagit County health department and the county commissioners as Governor Inslee was opening the state.

“I am super happy that the fair could take place, because now we have the momentum to plan for next year,” Gaither said. “Planning takes lots of conversations about what to do and how to improve. If there is no fair, it’s hard to start those conversations and get people going.”

There have been few opportunities this year for the farming community to meet in person. “Zoom is efficient, but kind of sterile,” said Rozema. “When you’re not in the room together, you’re losing so many connections and these small but important ways to build relationships and trust.”

While McNulty of the Poetry Foundation has her fingers crossed that Curtis can come next April, she too is a little tired of Zoom. “It’s not the same,” she said. “There’s all that magic that you can’t feel or hear when you are doing poetry on Zoom.”

Fans of the Rexville Grange Art Show will be able to feel the magic in November, when the show returns after taking three seasons off.

“The majority of the people who come have been our customers and friends for years,” said organizer and cofounder Marguerite Goff. “We are so pleased to be renewing that.”

As usual, there will be an opening reception on Friday, Nov. 12, but the planners are still on the fence about refreshments.

“When you eat, the masks come off,” said Goff.

On the other hand, purveyors of art can expect fully stocked shelves. Artists and craftspeople from Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties are experiencing no supply-chain problems.

Art’s Alive, as of this week, is still very much on for the first weekend in November. As its Facebook page says, “the work of local artists is not sitting on container ships.”