Updated 7:50 pm
The 45th annual Oak Bluffs Firemen’s Civic Association fireworks has been canceled.
Following suit with the 159th Agricultural Fair, The Taste of the Vineyard, Beach Road Weekend, and other large summer events, the annual fireworks event that marks the end of summer was canceled due to the “uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a letter from James Moreis Jr., president of the association.
The fireworks were originally scheduled for Friday, Aug. 21.
In a phone conversation with The Times, Moreis said the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, a shortage of manpower, and a record low in fundraising ended the event.
The decision came at the association’s monthly meeting Wednesday. While the vote was not unanimous, Mories said the vast majority of those at the meeting voted to cancel.
“It was a very quick fold,” Moreis said. “As soon as we got to it, it was surprisingly quick. Very little discussion.”
The logistics of social distancing with the people involved in setting up the fireworks, putting them on, and then the thousands who watch from Ocean Park was too difficult to work out, Mories said. The association did speak to the board of health who suggested the park be limited to 1,000 people, but Moreis said that brought challenges of its own including having people from all over the country and the world.
“That’s one tenth of what we have,” he said. “How would we separate them? I don’t know. What would you do? You can’t rope everybody in in case something happens.”
The association usually budgets $90,000 for the event, Moreis said, which includes the fireworks, personnel, signage, building materials, permits, and boat fees. The event, which has to fundraise all its money, has only raised $400 since September.
Mories said there was added pressure from the rental industry and people making vacation plans.
“It was a tough decision, but we had to make it,” Moreis said. “There are so many variations that we had to take into consideration … the biggest thing is protecting the public.”
As for what’s next, Moreis said he’s looking ahead to next year.
“Our safest bet is to try for 2021,” he said.
Updated with comments from Moreis. -ed
What a shame, seems very premature to cancel another event in August. There must have been a way to maintain social distancing for an event that occurs outside.
Well what would that way be, Graciam? The summer of 2020 is going silent. See everyone in 2021.
Require use of PPE, limit attendance to certain areas and maintain limits on max capacity, space out families with traffic cones or other markers, limit traffic around the area earlier in the day to thin crowds…Not ready to give up on Summer yet, though it will certainly be different.
Vineyard dogs would be doing the happy dance over this article if they could read.
They know. Yay doggies!
:-^
And yet we still have people clinging to the “It’s going to be a robust, typical summer!” fantasy….
I agree with you, it’s just absurd how people continue to think that the summer will be salvageable.As I’ve reiterated in many posts, the virus isn’t going away any time soon and is continuing to grow.The island is nearing 25 cases soon and that’s without the influx of tourists, when they’ll be over 100K of people here.It’s reality check time and to realize the depth of the situation and once that’s done. Then the virus will have a chance to be irradicated and then look forward to next summer.
I love the Fireworks as much as the next person and being born and raised here, it was a very special time for me. I too looked forward to the sky being lit up like a Christmas tree and it was a wonderful time. I am realist and facts are facts, being in denial isn’t going to make the virus go away. More people will get infected and soon, this will carry over until next summer.
I love my home and I do understand why others want to come here, right now MV is in jeopardy and people need to except the reality of the situation and follow protocols. Instead of trying to find other ways to get around the virus, so that they can claim their piece of the pie. As things are going, there might not be any pie left to enjoy, if ignorance becomes peoples bliss..
The negative doom and gloomers best stay locked up in their homes. The negativity is more dangerous than any virus.
But, but,..I just got finished laying out my plastic tarp and lawn chairs in Ocean Park, just so I could get the best viewing spot!
Can I leave them there till 2021?
I mean, that won’t ruin the grass, will it?
Go ahead, James. Everyone driving by would love to see you sitting there.
They cancelled this event due to funding. $400 since September? Even with the regular summer residents , they could not have raised enough by August.
It seems the event was canceled due to the lack of donations. $400 is a faraway number to $ 90,000
August is still a long way away.
It is interesting to see there are still commenters warning of the pending doom and gloom and don’t want anyone else on “their island”
Time for a much-needed dose of reality. People are still going to come, things will get better.
We will have summer, just quite a bit different from years past.
It’s convenient to take pieces of the article, that can suit your argument and take them out of context.When the first reason the FireWorks was cancelled was due to the virus and then down on the list, it stated that the funds were low. A quick cause and effect argument, the virus hit the world hard and due to that, funding for the FireWorks was low. If they wanted to put the FireWorks on, it would definitely go on and that’s the reality of the situation.
From the main article, “In a phone conversation with The Times, Mories said the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, a shortage of manpower, and a record low in fundraising ended the event.”
Fundraising was at the bottom of the list, to lesson the severity of the virus and the extreme effect it’s creating. It’s easier to blame the cancellation on the lack of funds, it helps take away the severity of the real issue and that’s the Virus Pandemic that’s over taking the island.
As reiterated before, ignorance is bliss and there seems to be a lot of that going around.That’s why we’re already at 24 cases and growing and it’ll continue to grow if parameters aren’t met and respected..
“ They cancelled this event due to funding.”
My thought as well. Shucks. On a brighter note, I can now play golf after work. Thank you, Charles.
:-^