North Brookfield’s Fourth party’s over before it began

The leaders of a Worcester County town who were planning a Fourth of July celebration that defied the Massachusetts coronavirus reopening plan has decided to postpone the event after the town’s Board of Health and state officials urged them to cancel the public gathering.

While cities and towns across the Bay State call off holiday gatherings, North Brookfield selectmen had organized a Fourth of July parade, daylong activities on the town common, music, food, drinks and a patriotic laser light show at night.

But members of the Board of Health implored the selectmen to nix the event. The Massachusetts reopening plan does not allow these types of group celebrations until Phase 4, which will not happen until there’s a coronavirus vaccine and/or treatments.

The selectmen on Tuesday night announced they were postponing the Fourth of July festivities. They said the gathering was only going to have about 250 people from the small town, but then the Board of Health “enlisted political operatives to contact the news media.”

“By alerting the news media from Worcester to Boston, the Board of Health alerted thousands of people to the existence of this event and effectively invited thousands of potential visitors to crowd into our small town thereby creating a true public health risk and an unmanageable public safety threat,” the Board of Selectmen wrote in a letter.

“… We will not expose our residents to the public health and public safety risks artificially created by the BOH’s unconstitutional silencing of the free expression of their neighbors,” they wrote. “Therefore, the Board of Selectmen have decided to postpone this event to a date yet to be determined.”

Selectmen Chairman Dale Kiley at a recent meeting noted that the town has only had 16 confirmed cases of coronavirus. He also said if a Black Lives Matter protest can happen in town, then this Fourth of July gathering can take place.

The Board of Selectmen’s reversal also comes after Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday said the Department of Public Health had contacted the selectmen about the state’s concerns. Baker said these types of events violate the state’s gathering rules, and he “would hope that North Brookfield would take the same position.”

The town’s Board of Health on Wednesday said that it’s “very happy” the selectmen reconsidered holding the event.

“It is the correct decision and the best possible way to ensure the people of North Brookfield stay safe and healthy, while maintaining the State’s progress of eliminating COVID-19,” the Board of Health wrote on Facebook. “We’re looking forward to seeing a celebration happen in North Brookfield as soon as it is possible, and will be proud to assist in keeping it safe for all our town’s residents.

“We want to stress, once again, that the BoH works solely in the interest of health and safety for the people of North Brookfield, and no decisions have been made for any political reason, nor have we employed any ‘operatives,’ ” the board wrote. “These claims by the Board of Selectmen are untrue, and make apparent that Board’s contempt for the work we do as well as the guidelines and regulations set by the Commonwealth.”