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PHILIPPI -- The postponement of the 45th Barbour County Fair until 2021 may result in a lack of funding for some organizations in the county.
"I know groups rely on the income they bring in. It is a lot of these groups' biggest fundraiser for them," Barbour County Commissioner Susie Cvechko told The Inter-Mountain Tuesday. "(The postponement) was not a decision taken lightly. We are still in this unknown time with cornavirus. We don't know where things will be in a month. It was a very difficult decision."
The announcement came in the form of a letter posted on the Barbour County Fair Facebook page Monday evening.
"Planning for the 45th Fair began last September and board members have spent countless hours organizing this event. Our county fair is one of the largest, oldest and best-known fairs in the state of West Virginia; the health and safety of our community takes precedence during this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic," read the announcement.
Cvechko said the annual event helps bring families together and many people return to the area from out of town for the event.
"It becomes a family affair and a lot of people will miss it," she said. "It becomes a mass gathering and there is no way to properly social distance and to sanitize everything. There is a lot of disappointment, but people's health is very important."
She said that restaurants, gas stations and other local business will be affected, but the postponement may hit local nonprofit groups the hardest.
Cvechko said she volunteers every year at the Lions Club food stand, and noted that local groups like the Philip Barbour Band Boosters and many others also sell items at the annual fair.
Haven of Hope Worship Center Pastor Howard Swick said the fair is the main fundraiser for the church's mission.
"We are a self-sufficient missionary," Swick said. "We don't have grants. We are independent and we make it or break it on our own."
Haven of Hope provides around 150,000 pounds of food to those in need in the county each year.
Swick said he understands why the fair was postponed, but "it is very frustrating."
"We depend on several venues to raise money and the fair is one of the biggest," Swick said. "We are going to try to do some fundraisers to make up the thousands the we lose from the fair."
Swick said another source of revenue, the Hope's Mission Thrift Store in Philippi, was shuttered for two months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said due to moving services online, the church has also saw a reduction in offerings due to only having online services for a month.
Swick said the church has had some gifts come in. Swick said the church has received some gifts from out of state. He said people have seen sermons online and have sent checks because they believe in the church's mission work.
"We are counting on people to step up and help with some monetary donations," he said. "We are planning some yard sales and other events."
The Barbour County Fair had been scheduled for Aug. 29 - Sept. 5 at the Barbour County Fairgrounds.