OCFS Cancels March 21-22 Indoor Trade Show Amid Coronavirus Concerns
Story By: JOHN DOUGLAS / RPW – MIDDLETOWN, NY – As events globally are canceled over concerns of the Coronavirus, local events are also being canceled and postponed. Such is the case with Orange County Fairgrounds Speedway’s Indoor Trade Show.
The event scheduled for March 21-22 has been canceled by track officials, who released a statement on Thursday:
“Orange Motorsports and Entertainment (OME) and The Orange County Fair Speedway (OCFS) of Middletown NY are disappointed to announce the cancellation of the annual indoor Motorsports Show, taking place this year on Saturday March 21 through Sunday march 22 at the Orange County Fairgrounds’ Arena Building, amid concerns of the Coronavirus.
Effective immediately, and for at least the next 14 days, Orange County Health Commissioner Dr. Irina Gelman is recommending and encouraging the cancelation or postponement of any large social indoor gatherings or events in Orange County. In the interest of public safety, OME has decided to comply with the county’s recommendation and cancel the OCFS 2020 Motorsports Show.
OME and Speedway staff agree that it is crucial to take action to slow the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and keep our communities and residents healthy. As this recommendation is being issued, there are no cases of COVID-19 in Orange County known to exist by the Orange County Health Department but avoiding mass gatherings and large community events will be the best way to keep cases at a minimum in the future.
Director of Motorsports at OCFS, Brett Hearn, is hopeful in this decision, “It’s a shame we have to cancel the show as it is an excellent jumping off point for our racing season and getting the community involved in what we do here, however we believe it is more important to preserve the public well being going into the race season. It’s more important than anything that people are healthy, and we’d rather cancel the car show than see empty grandstands during race season because people are still sick”.
The annual Motorsports show, Sponsored by Rapid Tire of Montgomery NY, was set include an awards ceremony for the 2019 season, Ms. and Little Miss OCFS pageants presented by Middletown Golden Corral, Pit Crew Challenge, a charity auction, autograph session and more. At this time plans are still being made for when or if any of the events will be rescheduled. No pre-sale tickets were available for the event. The 2020 Race season at OCFS is scheduled to begin on Saturday, April 4th (outside of the proposed time frame for cancellations/postponements set forth by the County) with a 50-lap opening night special event.”
