ELLINWOOD — After Harvest Festival is going to look a lot different in 2020 due to COVID-19 precautions, Ellinwood city council members learned Tuesday night. According to City Manager Chris Komarek, the Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce organizes the After Harvest Festival, and the board of directors were holding off on deciding if they would have an event this year until they learned if the Barton County Fair Board would be having a fair this year. When they learned in May there would be a fair, they began planning activities.

They began running into difficulties right away, trying to line up portable bathrooms and envisioning how community meals would work with social distancing in mind. Then, when the Fair Board announced the 2020 Barton County Fair would be virtual, the Chamber was in agreement with their reasons and followed suit with a dramatic scaling back of activities. 

“It’s just not safe to sponsor these sorts of outside events at this time,” Komarek said. Referring to COVID-19, he added, “locally, we continue to have some cases happening.” 

Rotary parade canceled 

Events typically sponsored by the Chamber and some other organization on city property have been canceled this year. There are no plans for a carnival, the family fun fair, and a concert and dance at Ellinwood City Park, and there are no plans for a parade. 

The Ellinwood Rotary Club announced via social media on May 29 that the parade was set for July 18, with the theme “Small Town Strong – through it all.” Ellinwood Mayor Irlan Fullbright is a Rotary member, and told the Great Bend Tribune Wednesday that members were reluctant from the start about the parade. Then, when they learned of the Chamber’s decision, they discussed it at their weekly lunchtime meeting. 

“We decided encouraging people to get on trailers and sit side by side on the street wasn’t a good idea,” he said. “Some of our workers also had concerns about visiting with parade participants coming from different areas at their car windows during the lineup. 

With things changing day to day, we decided to cancel the parade.” 

Club members decided to wait and announce their decision after the city council meeting. Fullbright said they had already received calls from several class reunion committees informing them they would not be coming this year due to pandemic concerns. 

Some events still happening

Individual businesses and organizations, like the Wolf Hotel and the Ellinwood American Legion, have events planned for AHF weekend, Komarek said. In addition, some events have traditionally not been sponsored by the Chamber, like the fishing derby at Wolf Pond, the horseshoe tournament, and the junior tractor pull. These events are still moving ahead. Council members gave permission for some of these events to take place at Wolf Park and around the band shell there. 

According to Chamber Executive Director Jordan Waite, the Ellinwood School and Community Library has been conducting Summer Library there on Thursday mornings, and they will meet there the Thursday of After Harvest Festival as well. The library is also planning to host its annual local artists event that weekend, and are determining where the artwork will be displayed. 

Chamber board members are considering a community cruise night on Thursday night, and are working on organizing a Thursday junior corn hole tournament and a Saturday adult corn hole tournament, with details yet to be announced on the Ellinwood After Harvest Festival Facebook page. 

The Wolf Hotel has presented an adult comedy night for several years during AHF and plans to again this year. The Underground Saloon will also be open and presenting live music by The Bodarks. The Ellinwood American Legion Post 320 reopened on June 8 and will be open during AHF as well. Members will meet on Sunday with Waite to discuss plans for that weekend. 

A golf tournament at Grove Park Golf Club is also a possibility, Komarek said. 

Sidewinders request

A last-minute addition to the agenda was a request from the Kansas Sidewinders, an Ellinwood motorcycle club, who earlier submitted an application to operate the AHF beer garden again this year. They asked the council to hold their application while they revised their plan to include a new location since the concert and dance have been canceled. 

Two members, identifying themselves as Ty and Josh, addressed the council. They are exploring options that would include fencing off an area outside their Main Street club for a small beer garden on Friday and Saturday nights. They wanted to ensure beer drinking is contained, and proposed having something may be better than nothing. According to Ty, if there was no beer garden, it was that likely private parties would spring up in town.

During the discussion that followed, the idea continued to evolve, and it became clear more time was needed to plan. Options for the location of the beer garden ranged from just outside the club to closing off a portion of a block of Main Street to the alley to the east. 

Councilman Ken Lebbin was torn, noting that everyone would really like to have a normal After Harvest Festival experience. But, he questioned the wisdom of having what would essentially become a block party. With so little going on elsewhere, if word got out about a party in Ellinwood, many from outside the area would likely come, and he questioned if Ellinwood was ready for that. 

Komarek pointed out that the Chamber had opted to cancel its concert and dance out of a concern for public safety, and a question of the availability of restrooms for a large crowd was voiced by a member. 

In order to approve the request, Komarek reminded council members it needed to be published in the paper of record prior to final approval. That would require a decision on the application no later than June 26. He suggested the council wait on a decision and provide the Sidewinders with time to nail down a plan before approving or denying it. Once a plan is submitted, a special meeting could be called, he said. The council agreed, and the matter was tabled.