Organizers cancel Oran's annual Fall Festival this year

ORAN, Mo. -- Despite rumors that have circulated through Oran, the Fall Festival's cancellation this year has nothing to do with police chief Marc Tragesser, organizers say.

"That's just simply not the case," said Brandon Patterson, president of the Oran Jaycees, which organizes the festival. "Certain people just assume things, but this has nothing to do with the cop.

"We don't take a stance on things like that. We're not going to take sides."

The festival has been an annual event in town for decades, bringing people together over food and games. Every year the event has been held in late August, but this year's event was canceled.

Patterson said the cancellation was a decision by the Jaycees board of directors because there weren't enough volunteers or vendors this year.

"We don't have the workers to do it," Patterson said. "A lot of the things we've had out there before weren't going to be able to show up, and the people who had been doing it are getting tired of doing it."

Mayor Tom Urhahn, a longtime resident of the town, said he can only remember one other cancellation in the event's history. He said the Jaycees gave him the same reasons for this year's cancellation.

One of the popular fixtures of the event is a horseshoe tournament, which the Jaycees still plan to have this weekend.

Patterson said his organization plans to make up for the lack of a festival by having fish fries on the first Friday of every month from October through February, along with its regular Friday fish fries during Lent.

Patterson said the Fall Festival isn't really a big fund-raising event for the Jaycees. Instead, the organization puts on the event as a community service.

The Jaycees plan to bring the festival back next year and make it even better, Patterson said. The dates will probably be moved back so the weather will be better, he said. The heat was a key reason cited by those who declined to volunteer this year.

And the year off should help fix some of the volunteer burnout that was key in the cancellation of this year's festival, he said.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182