Small wonder

Tiny Felsenthal sees active summer despite Bream Festival cancellation

COVID-19 has, in ways both obvious and abstract, had lasting economic impacts across the country.

In one afternoon drive through El Dorado, the still-new mask mandate signs on business doors — not to mention the many people wearing masks — remain a sure giveaway that something is amiss. While this remains the scene across the country and world in more metropolitan areas, rural areas and smaller communities, with their lack of population density and open spaces, occasionally experience unexpected results.

Felsenthal Mayor Linda Newbury said that she has observed effects both positive and negative in her community.

“A lot of the people here are elderly and in the high-risk category, so they are staying at home. Some of the people who are normally fishing here aren’t necessarily doing it, but some don’t pay much attention to it at all. We comply with the governor’s wishes of course, but it doesn’t affect us like it does, for example, El Dorado. We don’t have any businesses here to speak of; we have campgrounds,” Newbury said.

Still, with the cancellation of the annual Memorial Day weekend Bream Fest, an expected outcome might be a severe drop in visits from other Union County residents and beyond to camp near the town and otherwise enjoy nearby Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge.

Newbury, however, said summer tourism has overall been perhaps bigger than ever, evidenced in part by a rise in the town’s water revenue.

“We have still been seeing people from out of town. We actually had a huge crowd for Memorial Day, camping and fishing. It’s easier to social distance here, people are automatically further away from each other and the woods are around you rather than people. It’s been good for the town, actually - since March we have collected more in water revenue than last year,” Newbury said.

Despite this positive note, the cancellation of the Bream Fest was still a disappointment for the community and, surely, its yearly attendees.

Bream Fest is organized by a group of private citizens each year, although Newbury specified that the city government supports the festival.

Richard Thurlkill, the current President of the Bream Fest planning committee, said the festival was already generating excitement when the decision to cancel was made.

“I started on this committee last year and it has come a long way. … We put together a nine-person committee, with all different age groups with different perspectives. In my first year we did it on our own and didn’t have many volunteers, but this year we had 12 volunteers who wanted to help make it bigger and better than ever,” Thurlkill said.

Thurlkill noted that despite this year’s cancellation, the festival will be back as soon as possible.

“I think the community in Felsenthal really looks forward to it every year. … We did hear from people who were disappointed but understanding that we had to cancel it. It isn’t going away, it’s just on the back burner. We have it on our agenda for next year, and if the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise, it will go on,” Thurlkill said.

The latter statement is particularly applicable because of flooding forcing the cancellation of the Bream Fest in 2018.

Now, planning to keep the annual tradition alive following both flood and plague, residents and organizers can look forward to 2021 as a new start for the festival.