Chuckwagon races take place in Clinton after OK

CLINTON —The National Championship Chuckwagon Races are underway this week after the Arkansas Department of Health approved a plan for the annual races, live music and rodeo events near the cit to take place with extra precautions amid the covid-19 outbreak.

The races, which feature pioneer-style covered wagons drawn by horses or mules, officially kicked off Saturday, with the first chuckwagon race scheduled for today. Events run through Sunday.

Organizer Dapple Eoff said usually the races see somewhere between 5,000-6,000 daily attendees at any given time on the 1,600 acres where the various events take place.

Eoff’s parents, Dan and Peggy Eoff, started the races and the events have grown to include 180 teams taking part in the competition this year, she said Thursday. The event is celebrating its 35th year this summer.

Eoff worked with the Department of Health to adjust plans for the races to account for the covid-19 outbreak based on guidelines for events and venues implemented by the department during the pandemic.

In response to an initial plan submitted in late June, Jeff Jackson, the Department of Health’s environmental supervisor for the retail food program, said the plan was “insufficient” based on the information provided and the department couldn’t make a decision on whether to approve the races.

A more detailed plan was submitted with changes made to address the feedback, and the Department of Health approved the plan Aug. 5.

A Department of Health official visited the event Thursday for the second time, and the official will return today, Eoff said.

“They’re coming in,” she said of the health department. “I mean, they’re welcome. Our gates are open for them.”

Included with Eoff’s initial proposal to the Department of Health was a June 26 letter of support from Mayor Richard McCormac, who emphasized the organizers’ commitment to safety and underscored the economic importance of the races to their community of 2,600 people.

McCormac said Thursday the chuckwagon races draws thousands of people, especially on Saturday and Sunday when races are taking place.

Asked if attendees should maintain an extra level of caution at the races over the weekend, McCormac said they should rely on the same precautions people have been using amid the outbreak.

The most challenging part of adjusting the races in light of covid-19 has been enforcing the mask mandate at their venues, or, as Eoff reluctantly put it, “being mask police.”

“You hate to say, ‘Hey, y’all need to put your mask on,’” she said.

Nevertheless, attendees are in good spirits, Eoff said, in spite of covid-19 and recent severe weather rolling through the state.

“The rain, I’m telling you, the rain has been a monster,” she said.

From her point of view, the rain has been worse than covid-19.

“It’s got people kind of stuck in their camps, which is good considering the year, but bad considering a lot of our events have gotten canceled because of the rain,” Eoff said.

“I’m a believer,”she added, “and I think God sent us the rain for a reason, and maybe it was just to keep people more spread out.”