The Park Rapids Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce has canceled two of its major summer events for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chamber board, meeting Tuesday, decided to cancel this year’s July 4 parade and Legends and Logging Days, which had been scheduled for Aug. 8.
“The chamber believes there is still a large degree of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 virus and anticipates social distancing restrictions will still be in place at the time of both events,” Chamber President and CEO Butch De La Hunt said in a press release.
He said social distancing guidelines under Gov. Tim Walz’s executive orders, restricting social gatherings to less than 250 people, made it impossible to plan the events within the time available.
“It involves hundreds of hours in the planning and arranging for volunteers and participants to host these events. We simply had to make these calls now so people can plan accordingly,” he said.
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“Both these annual events draw large crowds from surrounding communities and are widely attended by our visitors,” said De La Hunt. “The Chamber’s core focus was centered on the health and well-being of the attendees, volunteers and participants.”
