Fair cancellation no surprise to vendors
By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)f
rom:citizensvoice.com
Published: September 16, 2011
For the first time since it started in 1855, the Bloomsburg Fair has been canceled, and local vendors will miss not only the revenue but the annual tradition of taking part in the area's biggest fair.
Catastrophic flooding by the Susquehanna River devastated the town of Bloomsburg, including the fairgrounds. The fair's board of directors opted to cancel this year's event, which was scheduled to run Sept. 24 to Oct. 1.
This would have been the 59th year at the fair for Grotto Pizza, General Manager Armand Mascioli said.
"We'll miss being there," he said. "We've had a pretty dedicated group of customers we see at the fair every year."
Although disappointed, Mascioli said, "It was not a surprise that they were going to cancel it. They were up against a situation that was way beyond fixing in a two-week period."
Michael Mootz, owner of Mootz Candies in Hanover Township, remembers the first year he took part in the Bloomsburg Fair was in 1975, when Hurricane Eloise forced the weeklong fair to close for two days.
He would like this year's fair to have been postponed, but understands why it was canceled: the devastation was too severe this time. Mootz said his son went to Bloomsburg and took 40 to 50 photos, and, "When I saw that, I didn't think they would be able to open," he said.
Over the years, Mootz said the business has developed regular customers - "we sell tons of fudge" - and he has gotten to know a lot of the other vendors at the fair.
"Obviously we're going to miss seeing the people and miss the revenue," he said.
Mootz Candies participates in about 10 fairs, and Bloomsburg is the largest and most profitable, he said. Between 400,000 and 500,000 people attend the fair, which has hundreds of vendors. It has "expanded tremendously since we started going there in '75," he said. Not having it this year will be a loss of revenue for the town of Bloomsburg, he said.Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/fair-cancellation-no-surprise-to-vendors-1.1204025#ixzz1Y6wMQXld
For the first time since it started in 1855, the Bloomsburg Fair has been canceled, and local vendors will miss not only the revenue but the annual tradition of taking part in the area's biggest fair.
Catastrophic flooding by the Susquehanna River devastated the town of Bloomsburg, including the fairgrounds. The fair's board of directors opted to cancel this year's event, which was scheduled to run Sept. 24 to Oct. 1.
This would have been the 59th year at the fair for Grotto Pizza, General Manager Armand Mascioli said.
"We'll miss being there," he said. "We've had a pretty dedicated group of customers we see at the fair every year."
Although disappointed, Mascioli said, "It was not a surprise that they were going to cancel it. They were up against a situation that was way beyond fixing in a two-week period."
Michael Mootz, owner of Mootz Candies in Hanover Township, remembers the first year he took part in the Bloomsburg Fair was in 1975, when Hurricane Eloise forced the weeklong fair to close for two days.
He would like this year's fair to have been postponed, but understands why it was canceled: the devastation was too severe this time. Mootz said his son went to Bloomsburg and took 40 to 50 photos, and, "When I saw that, I didn't think they would be able to open," he said.
Over the years, Mootz said the business has developed regular customers - "we sell tons of fudge" - and he has gotten to know a lot of the other vendors at the fair.
"Obviously we're going to miss seeing the people and miss the revenue," he said.
Mootz Candies participates in about 10 fairs, and Bloomsburg is the largest and most profitable, he said. Between 400,000 and 500,000 people attend the fair, which has hundreds of vendors. It has "expanded tremendously since we started going there in '75," he said. Not having it this year will be a loss of revenue for the town of Bloomsburg, he said.Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/fair-cancellation-no-surprise-to-vendors-1.1204025#ixzz1Y6wMQXld
No comments:
Post a Comment