Powassan council is struggling about whether to hold the community's annual Maple Syrup Festival next spring.
And it's not just the council that's having a hard time deciding whether to hold the event as COVID-19 continues to affect the world.
Coun. Debbie Piekarski says the Maple Syrup Festival Committee is also debating if the festival should take place.
Piekarski, who chairs the festival committee, said the producers are alright with holding a festival but added there was some hesitancy among the committee members to move forward at this time.
“The committee is looking for some direction from the council whether or not we proceed with the Festival in 2022,” Piekarski said.
Piekarski said the committee found pros and cons to holding the event and if the decision is to go ahead with it, there will be many hurdles to cross.
She said one of those hurdles was how to pull off the pancake breakfast which is held indoors and is a major draw.
“You'd have to contact trace everyone and everyone would have to show proof of vaccination,” she said.
The committee talked about downsizing the festival for 2022 but the issue remained how it could control the number of people who decide to attend.
“We could say it's going to be a small festival, but 10,000 people could still show up,” she said.
All the councillors agreed it might be best to put off the event for another year after COVID-19 cancelled the festival in 2020 and again this year.
See: Pancake Saturday is the sweetest way to lift spirits after Maple Syrup Festival cancelled
Coun. Randy Hall said deciding whether to hold the festival in April was “a tough call.”
Hall said given that the pandemic has seen the rise of another variant, “it might be prudent to postpone for another year.”
Hall said it could be possible to only hold outdoor events, but he is still worried even in this instance there might be seniors who could contract the virus.
Coun. Dave Britton said with so much planning that would have to go into the festival and no guarantee that it would happen, it was best to defer it for one more year.
The lone dissenting voice was Mayor Peter McIsaac, who believes the festival should take place.
McIsaac said a downsized festival could attract fewer people, and if activities were also held indoors, the tools are in place to check to see that people have been vaccinated.
He said 90 per cent of the population of Ontario 12 and older have been vaccinated with at least one shot.
“But even with vaccinations at 90 per cent, life is going to have to start moving forward again.”
McIsaac acknowledged the committee does a lot of work to ensure a successful festival.
And he admitted it was a gamble to plan for the event knowing “at the last minute council or the province (could) pull the rug out from everyone.”
The mayor said if the festival takes place, there will be people who attend and others who decide against taking it in.
McIsaac liked Wand's idea of using Jan. 31 as the cutoff date for a final decision and suggested the committee consider that when it next meets Jan. 19.
The Maple Syrup Festival takes place the last Saturday in April.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
