Here’s which fall events are happening, and which ones COVID canceled in Fort Mill.
Fort Mill is making proverbial lemonade again, as COVID-19 continues to impact established public gatherings in town.
“2020 has been a challenging year for everyone and has definitely impacted how the Town of Fort Mill operates its annual slate of events,” said Jacona Hester, town events coordinator.
Plenty of folks have had job challenges with social distancing. Add Hester, a long-time town employee who took over the events role in time to see the South Carolina Strawberry Festival, July 4 cannon firing and so many other events canceled or modified this year to prevent virus spread.
More than six months after the pandemic closed area schools and changed event plans, the town still isn’t back to business as usual. Yet some fall events still will happen.
“The town has adapted successfully to all state and federal guidelines regarding crowd sizes and social distancing, allowing us to hold smaller events such as our Fall Market or Scarecrow Crawl while keeping the public and vendors safe,” Hester said. “Our staff has also done a wonderful job of transforming some of our larger events, such as the Strawberry Festival and July 4th Celebration, into virtual events featuring activities and contests the community can participate in from their homes.”
- Trick or Treat Main Street won’t happen this year. The event draws thousands of people, many of then young families with children dressed to receive candy or compete in costume contests.
- The sixth annual Scarecrow Crawl will happen. It runs Oct. 5-31 with 117 scarecrows. That’s the largest number to date, as organizations and businesses decorate scarecrows each year for public display in the downtown area. Judges will pick winners, and the public can vote on the town Facebook page Oct. 9-28. Winners will be announced Oct. 31.
- New this year is a 50-square-foot children’s hay maze at Veterans Park. Also, Fort Mill Fall Market will showcase the new town outdoor market that began in September. It will have fall produce, farm products, crafts and gifts. It too is at Veterans Park, 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Nov. 21.
- There will be multiple virtual events this fall to include a photo contest, pumpkin hunt, pumpkin decorating contest, Halloween movie scramble, pets and people Halloween contest and Fort Mill’s Got Talent. The Fort Mill town website and social media pages will have details.
- Similar plans are in place with town fire service. The popular fire department open house, which lets children put out mock fires and learn safety techniques, won’t happen due to coronavirus. An all-virtual fire prevention week will, on Oct. 4-10. The focus this year is cooking safety. Some events include coloring contests, story time with firefighters and a home escape plan contest. Again, details are are available at the town site and social media pages.
For the town itself, changes to major community events isn’t going to make or break a budget. Yet events are important.
“While the financial impact of not holding these events has been minimal for the town, it definitely impacts our downtown merchants and community businesses who benefit from the crowds who annually attend these events and shop at their stores,” Hester said.
Fort Mill Town Council has worked with downtown merchants during the pandemic on a variety of issues, from promised event rescheduling to ongoing work to temporarily reduce impact fees at the request of businesses. The first event impacted by social distancing constraints came at St. Patrick’s Day, when town leadership listened to merchant organizers before agreeing to cancel.
The town supports businesses through online contest and promotion of pick-up or delivery options those stores can provide. The other impact of event loss, though, is less monetary and more civic. Events are ways to bring the town together. Something that will happen again in full, as soon as it’s safe to do so.
“We will continue to develop ways to bolster community pride and engagement with our events moving forward,” Hester said.
