Forward Twp. calls off Community Days
By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com
An annual community celebration, and most other things, have been put on hold in Forward Township because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Community Days, a two-day festival held in mid-August each year at Gallatin-Sunnyside Park, will not take place in 2020. Township Supervisor David Magiske said there’s no safe way to hold the event in the 7-acre park.
“We get a couple thousand people down there. You can’t have that many people in a park the size of ours and maintain social distancing. It wasn’t worth risking people’s lives” Magiske said. “Even if the virus disappeared today, there wouldn’t be enough time to put it together. It’s a lot of work.”
Magiske said past events have included live music each evening from 4 to 10 p.m., as many as 15 food booths, 25 game booths and a petting zoo.
“And probably the best fireworks exhibit in the entire valley,” Magiske said. “Most places, you’re up to a half mile away. At Gallatin-Sunnyside, you’re 75 feet away. We can do that because of the riverbank. When they go past you 75 feet away, that’s really something.”
While the community festival is off, the park is still open for other activities, including fishing, Magiske said, with bass, blue gills, muskie, pike, perch, catfish, and carp to be caught. The park is an ideal fishing spot for senior citizens and people with mobility issues.
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