The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is “looking into” events at the 2020 Clarion County Fair where social distancing guidelines were allegedly not followed and alleged political activity might have occurred.
“The (state) Department of Agriculture received one complaint about crowds at the Clarion County Fair that exceeded restrictions in place to limit the spread of COVID-19,” said Shannon Powers, press secretary for the state Department of Agriculture in response to an email inquiry.
“The complaint was received after the event and did not include sufficient information for follow-up,” Powers told the Clarion News. “No sanctions have been issued at this point, but the department is looking into the matter.”
Wolf’s Corners Fair organizers opted to cancel that event this year.
The Clarion County Fair went on as scheduled albeit with a reduced slate of events and activities.
On July 30, Clarion News sports editor Ryan Pugh attended the fair to cover the demolition derby.
Pugh observed a sign at the front gate that said “Blue Lives Matter Protest” and signs at the fair entry booth encouraging six feet of social distancing, encouraging the wearing of face coverings and a reminder about hand-washing and the fair’s hand-sanitizing stations located all over the fairgrounds.
Inside the gates, Pugh reported many people not observing social distancing or using face coverings. People were standing shoulder-to-shoulder waiting to buy pizza and strombolis.
The main grandstands and spill-over grandstands were near capacity when the demolition derby started up at 7 p.m.
Before the derby started, Clarion County Fair Board President Josh Minich addressed the audience over a public address system and said the derby was a “Blue Lives Matter” protest and went on to say it was a protest against being told what to do by the government and a protest about not being able to stand up and defend police officers.
Minich also asked fans to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem and a prayer. He said if anyone was unable to stand that was OK, but if anyone wanted to kneel for the anthem, “the gate was right down there.”
The kneeling comment brought loud cheers.
After Minich was done on the microphone, the demolition derby emcee took over and told everyone it was important to vote in the November presidential election. He did not however, mention any specific candidate.
The audience and actions at the demolition derby created several debates on various social media platforms, including a petition on “change.org” calling for Clarion County District Attorney Drew Welsh to charge Minich with reckless endangerment of another person and a dueling petition calling for support for Minich.
Minich himself took to social media and said the statements and signs at the fair were not intended to be of a political nature.
Earlier this summer, Gov. Tom Wolf banned gatherings of more 249 people, even if those gatherings were held outdoors.
“Generally, fairs that do not comply with applicable laws, including the governor’s orders, could be at risk for losing grant eligibility,” said Powers.
Minich could not be reached for comment on the Department of Agriculture’s statement of an ongoing inquiry.