White Oak won’t hold festival or open pool

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

The summer of 2020 in White Oak, like in many other Mon Valley communities, isn’t going to look or be celebrated the same as past years.

The borough, Mayor Ina Jean Marton said, has decided to cancel its 2020 Community Day celebration, postpone the fireworks display and will not open its community pool this year. 

Community day canceled

The Valley is feeling 80- and 90-degree temperatures, but many of its residents are not enjoying the summer fun they’re used to.

But many fairs, festivals and carnivals have been canceled or postponed. 

Marton said White Oak Community Day, which is typically held the first weekend in August, has been canceled out of a concern about whether borough employees and community day volunteers would be able to enforce social distancing policies.

The annual event is typically well attended, according to the mayor.

She said the borough and the event’s committee worried it would be difficult to ask people to refrain from hugging one another, shaking hands and congregating to catch up.

“We don’t want to do anything to hurt the safety and well-being of our White Oak residents and White Oak community,” Marton said. “White Oak is a close-knit community of people who really care about one another. We felt it would be hard to keep people apart.”

Holding the event would have meant making sure restrooms, eating spaces, children’s play areas and games would be regularly sanitized.

To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Monday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.