Well, this is a first for us… I just posted yesterday about DixieLUG’s participation in this weekend’s 2020 Model Train show. This morning, we woke to find the show was canceled.
Writing about a pandemic affecting LEGO is not something I thought I would be writing about on this blog, but here we are. The cancellation came courtesy of the Coronavirus, or COVID-19.
We expected this might happen.
But the website said it was still on…
Yet as of yesterday at noon, the show was on. If you visited the train event website, you would have seen the following notice:
It read as follows:
The Model Train Show 2020 Update – March 12 at Noon.
The Train Show Staff and The Piedmont Division are dedicated to keeping our vendors, exhibitors, volunteers and attendees safe and healthy. Cobb Galleria Centre will be open this weekend and is taking every precaution to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. In addition to the Galleria, The Train Show Staff and Division Leaders are also employing CDC recommended health strategies to keep ourselves and everyone safe and healthy.
Unless the Federal, State or Cobb County governments decide to close Cobb Galleria Center, The Model Train Show 2020 will open as normal this weekend.
We fully understand that your attendance is based upon your personal feelings of safety and your health condition. If you choose not to attend the show this year, we respect your decision and we hope you and your families remain safe and we look forward to being together in the future.
Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Wash your hands and be well.
So what changed?
Thursday afternoon, Cobb County Schools announced they were closing starting Monday, March 16 until further notice. I believe that, combined with the report of Georgia’s first COVID-19 death, both occurring in the same county as the show, were enough to change the mind of the show promoters:
With very heavy hearts and out of an abundance of caution the Piedmont Division has weighed all options and has decided to CANCEL the train show this weekend. Unfortunately with the growing concerns over the Coronavirus and the shut down of the entire state we have decided to close the show in an effort to keep our train show staff, venders, exhibitors, and patrons safe and hopefully virus free.
Please stay safe.
We completely understand the concern. We have our own at-risk person in the house to protect, so avoiding crowds for us is a good thing.
In the meantime, we’ve also canceled the LUG meeting set for Saturday evening. Without much time to work on the MOC, I’m excited for the extra time. So I’ll definitely be building this weekend.