As of June 13, the Genesee County Fair is still on. | Pixabay
As of June 13, the Genesee County Fair is still on. | Pixabay
Genesee County health officials are mulling the possibility of canceling two of the biggest summer events in Flint.
As of June 13, Back to the Bricks and the Genesee County Fair are still slated to proceed as scheduled. But County Health Officer John McKellar said his office is closely monitoring present conditions before making a decision.
It is business as usual for Back to the Bricks organizers as they continue to make plans for the highly anticipated classic car event in late August.
MLive reported that venues in the Upper Peninsula and extreme northern Michigan have begun to return to business at a 25% capacity. Further south, only 100 people are allowed at outdoor events.
McKellar said that Genesee County is continuing to comply with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 executive orders.
Fair executive director Christian Miller said his group is also continuing to work on their event, and he intends to show Genesee health officials the fair can be held safely.
“We are still two months away, and we’re preparing something for the Health Department to review,” he told MLive. “The feeling we are getting from people is they want to have events. They want to have opportunities to come together.”
Miller acknowledged that he does not know what things will be like come late August, but he does not want to cancel the fair if coronavirus cases could drop dramatically by then.
This year’s fair will have a monster truck show, rodeo and a concert headlined by country singer Travis Tritt.
Back to the Bricks officials are closely working with the Downtown Development Authority and Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley. Michigan law empowers the county health official to make decisions he feels would benefit the health and safety of the county's citizens.
ABC12News reported that Genesee County had no new cases on June 12 for the first time in months.
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