The novel coronavirus pandemic has forced the cancellation of this year’s Historic Old Annville Day, a more than three decade old community celebration that had been scheduled for Saturday, June 13.
The cancellation was first announced in an April 15 Facebook post by the Friends of Old Annville, the organization that sponsors the event.
Historic Old Annville Day is “a community celebration of Annville’s past, present, and future,” said Friends of Old Annville President Michael Schroeder. “We celebrate the town and provide an opportunity for folks to come together.”
Schroeder said that the outdoor celebration, which draws throngs of people to Annville’s Main Street (U.S. Route 422), will not be rescheduled for later in 2020, primarily due to the time required to get PennDOT’s okay to shut down a state highway.
“We had discussions about this on the planning committee,” Schroeder said in a telephone interview. “PennDOT takes months to agree to close down Main Street. We submit our request in December, they get back to us in the spring for June.”
“And now, they’re not accepting any requests because of the pandemic,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder added that the general uncertainty over when COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted was another reason to scrap the event this year and to focus on June of 2021.
Vendors who have paid fees for this year’s event will receive refunds. Undeposited checks from vendors will be returned.
Read all of LebTown’s COVID-19 coverage here.
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Full Disclosure: The campaign of Michael Schroeder was an advertiser on LebTown during the previous special election cycle. LebTown does not make editorial decisions based on advertising relationships and advertisers do not receive special editorial treatment. Learn more about advertising with LebTown here.