Gooding Postpones Rodeo
Gooding, Idaho: After months of monitoring and discussion, plans for the Gooding County Fair & Rodeo have changed. Gooding County Commissioners sought input from the Fair Manager, all elected county officials and representatives from North Canyon Medical Center before rendering a final decision this morning. All agreed, the best decision to protect the community and avoid a significant financial loss was to cancel some elements of the event and postpone others.
The rodeo has been postponed with plans to monitor conditions and hopefully to proceed at a later date.
4H events will continue during fair week with some adjustments to abide by social distancing guidelines.
The Market Animal Sale will be held Saturday, August 22nd at 10:00 in the arena to aide with social distancing requirements.
“This was not a knee-jerk decision,” stated Don Gill, Gooding County Fair Manager. “I have been working with the County Commissioners and North Canyon Medical Center for months as we monitored the COVID cases and discussed the risks a large event could have on our county. We are devastated to change our plans for the fair & rodeo, but we all agreed it was the right decision. In addition to COVID concerns, there is a huge financial impact that had to be taken into consideration.”
Officials analyzed the impact a wide-spread outbreak in Gooding County could have on the community including the risk of businesses being shut down again, the risk of schools not being able to reopen and the impact an outbreak would have on local healthcare. “This was an extremely difficult decision and one we did not take lightly. Just two weeks ago there was a high level of confidence we could move forward with the full event but the increase in COVID cases across Idaho the past two weeks changed that perception. While we did not want to change this event, we had to look at the long-term impacts a wide-spread outbreak could have on the residents and businesses of Gooding County,” stated Mark Bolduc, Gooding County Commissioners.
Events cancelled:
Carnival
Food Vendors
Open Fair Class
Tough Enough to Wear Pink Luncheon
Mark Bolduc, Gooding County Commissioner - (208) 934-4841