LA GRANDE — The Union County Fair may ride again this summer.

The Union County Fair Board has voted to bring back the fair, which was canceled in the summer of 2020 because of COVID-19. Union County Fair Manager Suz Brazeau Red Hawk said the fair means so much to the youth of this community, many of whom show animals via FFA and 4-H, that the fair board decided to restore the event.

Brazeau Red Hawk said it also is important to go on with the fair because it has an integral place in the community.

“It is a tradition,” she said. “It has been around almost 150 years.”

Brazeau Red Hawk said the board realizes there is a chance the fair would have to cancel again if COVID-19 rates spike or if the state tightens rules regarding public events because of the pandemic.

“The state will either let us fly or we cancel,” Brazeau Red Hawk said.

The fair in 2020 went online only, which allowed youths in 4-H and FFA to show their animals virtually at the fairgrounds. It was successful but did not come close to replicating the fair experience for the participants or the public.

“I hope we do not have to do that again,” Brazeau Red Hawk said.

The Union County Fair Board now is inviting vendors to register for the 2021 fair.

Brazeau Red Hawk is optimistic that response from vendors will be strong. She noted that in 2020 about 90% of the vendors the fair had in 2019 expressed interest in signing up before the fair was canceled.

The fair manager is not sure if an amusement company will again provide carnival rides at the fair.

“I’ve contacted several and they all said they will not make commitments until April,” she said.

Brazeau Red Hawk noted Cascade Amusements of Portland, which provided rides for many years including 2019, is no longer operating because the owners retired.

She said even if the fair does not land an amusement ride company, some carnival-type activities will continue, including the plastic bubble ball station that Frank’s Bubble Fun operates, which allows people to roll around inside a big container of plastic balls.

To meet social distancing standards, if COVID-19 restrictions still remain in place when the fair opens, the fairgrounds may be divided into sections and the number of people who could be in each at one time limited. Restrictions on how many people could go into buildings also likely would be in place.

Brazeau Red Hawk said she is encouraged that activity at the Union County Fairgrounds is picking up. She noted a yard sale is set to be conducted there in May, and several birthday parties and weddings are scheduled several months from now.

“This means that more people are beginning to think that things will be okay,” Brazeau Red Hawk said.