CLARION BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) — Some favorite local events will be returning to downtown Clarion this year, and vaccine incentives may be part of the festivities.
The Clarion Borough Council on Tuesday evening approved event requests for the “I Love Clarion” event and the Autumn Leaf Festival.
The “I Love Clarion” event is scheduled for Saturday, July 3, with downtown events to take place from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., and the events at the mall to begin at 5:00 p.m. and wrap up with the fireworks at 9:30 p.m.
The event will be subject to COVID-19 warnings and will follow all CDC guidelines in place at the time of the event.
Council President Carol Lapinto noted that a new item under consideration for the event is a vaccine clinic offering the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“I was very, very shocked today to find out the low percentage of people in Clarion that have the shots,” Lapinto said.
Lapinto went on to state that one of the challenges of offering the vaccine is the summer weather and an adequate location for a vaccination site, as the vaccines must be kept cold.
Lapinto also said that the Clarion Chamber of Business and Industry and the Destination Clarion Downtown committee are looking at offering incentives for those who get vaccinated during the event if a vaccination clinic is held.
“The first 20 people would get a t-shirt that got vaccinated that day,” Destination Clarion Downtown representative Jim Crooks said. “The whole thrust of it is as a community, we have to try to encourage people to become vaccinated in Clarion County and do our part. Everyone can do their part if they get the shot.”
Tracy Becker, Executive Director of the Clarion Area Chamber of Business & Industry, said that the chamber may also consider giving away some Autumn Leaf Festival glasses as vaccine incentives.
Becker also noted that offering a clinic for the single-dose vaccine is not only under consideration for the “I Love Clarion” event, but also for the Autumn Leaf Festival in October, as well.
The event request for “I Love Clarion” included a request for the council to consider waiving or reducing special event fees for craft vendors at the downtown part of the event.
Solicitor John Marshall noted that if the council did want to waive or reduce the fees, they would have to do so by resolution at the following meeting since the fees were established by resolution.
Councilmember Ben Aaron said the reason for considering reducing or waiving the fee is the current economic situation for local crafters and the fact that the event is only five hours long creates a situation where they face the possibility of not making enough to cover the $50.00 fee.
“What the event being in town is supposed to be doing is draw people in for some foot traffic for the rest of our local businesses, as well,” Aaron noted.
While the “I Love Clarion” event has not traditionally included crafters, Tracy Becker noted it is something that has been considered in the past, and something the chamber believes could be a good addition this year.
“Our intention was to go to the university, but the university is still closed (for events),” Tracy Becker said.
Becker explained the Clarion Chamber of Business and Industry had to sign a contract with the fireworks company and decided to go to the mall for the fireworks again this year since the university closure left the stadium unavailable.
“With that being said, the event this year and next year will be on a Saturday and Sunday (respectively), and our downtown businesses, just like everyone else, have felt the economic impact with last year.”
Becker said that the craft show downtown would begin at 9:00 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park. The downtown festivities would also include Bingo at 10:00 a.m., kids games, provided by Hope Rising Church, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and a Chicken Box Luncheon at noon, as well as a session of Bingo at 1:00 p.m., and an Eating Contest from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The festivities would then proceed to the mall in the evening hours, starting at 5:00 p.m. with food vendors. A Veteran’s presentation is planned for 6:00 p.m., followed by the presenting of the colors at 6:45 p.m. The Wrangler Band will then begin at 7:00 p.m. and the fireworks are set for 9:30 p.m.
2020 Fireworks in Clarion. Photo by K. Glosser.
Downtown businesses are encouraged to hold sidewalk sales all day long, according to Becker.
“We’re looking to bring in the crowd for the morning, maybe take a break, and then bring them back for the evening. So again, we’re looking at trying to bring something into town.”
That’s where the craft vendors and the request for the fee reduction or waiver come into play, Becker noted.
“We’re not looking to charge anything. We know the crafters, just like the businesses, have been financially impacted. The craft show we do at the Autumn Leaf Festival, that’s 200,000 people that come in on that Friday. I’m hopeful that we get a couple hundred people in on that Saturday, July 3, but I don’t know. We’re just trying to do something fun to get everyone out and about and move forward.”
According to Becker, they’re looking at bringing in around 20 crafters, all from Clarion County, for the event, as they want to create a draw to downtown without detracting from the downtown businesses while also supporting local crafters.
All of the events would be set for Veterans Memorial Park downtown and the former K-Mart parking lot at the mall.
The council unanimously voted to approve the “I Love Clarion” event with a discussion of a resolution regarding the crafters’ fees to take place at the next meeting, on June 15.
The council also voted to approve an event request for the Autumn Leaf Festival, which is scheduled for October 2 to October 10, pending PennDOT approval of the related road closure.
Councilmember Rachel Roberts expressed concerns over the ongoing PennDOT construction project and whether they may interfere with the road closure plan.
“I think we ran into this issue a few years ago,” Clarion Borough Police Chief William Peck noted.
“It’s a big issue, but in the past, it worked out fine.”
Councilmember Brenda Sanders Dede also expressed concerns about the low vaccination rate in Clarion County and what that could mean for the festival.
2019 Autumn Leaf Festival Autorama. Courtesy of Mountain Man Photography.
“The request states subject to COVID and what goes on,” Lapinto said, noting there is the possibility that either increases in COVID-19 infections or issues with PennDOT approval of the road closure could interfere with the festival plans.
“It’s kind of like last year in that we can plan for it, but we know at any given time that something could change and that we have to be adjustable,” Becker noted.
“I think this is just the thing and time right now that we plan for the best-case scenario and adjust to the worst-case scenario. We can’t do it at all if we don’t plan to do it. We can always not do it later,” Aaron said.
The first major hurdle is getting approval for the road closure for PennDOT, Becker noted.
As far as events for the festival, Becker said they are still in the planning process now, looking at some changes.
“We do know the firemen are doing something different. They’re not going to do firetruck rides.”
According to Becker, the chamber is also looking to add an event at a location that wouldn’t affect anything already in the request. She noted that the chamber is planning 16 events and another 45 events will be run by other organizations.
“We can’t really move too far ahead, because if PennDOT comes back and says ‘no,’ then that’s going to halt procedures, and we’ll have to go with Plan B or C.”
Chief Peck noted that PennDOT requires a separate request for each day of road closure, and they could approve all of the requests or only some of them.
The council approved the event request, with Brenda Sanders Dede asking to abstain from the vote due to feeling uncertain about the decision. However, solicitor John Marshall stepped in to state that unless there is a conflict of interest involved, a council member must vote ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ and Sanders then voted against the approval.
The council also approved United Way of Clarion County’s Special Event Request for the 5K and 10K races to be held on September 25, one week before the Autumn Leaf Festival.
