2020 Rod Run canceled; garlic fest also falls to covid

Published 9:50 pm Monday, July 6, 2020

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OCEAN PARK — The 2020 Rod Run to the End of the World was officially canceled after the Beach Barons car club voted to cancel this year’s event at its July 6 meeting.

“Rod Run is canceled everyone. That is all,” the Beach Barons posted simply on its Facebook page Monday night following the conclusion of its meeting.

On a Facebook page for Rod Run enthusiasts, club Treasurer Natalie Kinman said the decision to cancel this year’s event was made after the Beach Barons were informed that Pacific County would remain in Phase 3 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start Plan for at least two more months. Staying in Phase 3, she said, would not allow for the club to plan for the event and not incur more costs.

Related concerns led Northwest Garlic Festival organizers to announce on July 3 that the 2020 festival — which had initially been postponed from June to September — is now canceled.

“Thank you to the vendors and musicians who waited patiently as we navigated through the challenges this year,” garlic fest organizers said. Vendor fees and poster contest entries will be returned. It would have been the festival’s 39th year.

This year’s Rod Run was set for the second weekend in September. In April, club President Joe Natoli was optimistic that this year’s event would be held, and said at the time that early interest in attending this year’s Rod Run was about equal to recent years.

Rod Run typically attracts around 800 to 900 registered car owners and draws a sizable crowd of classic cars fans from around the region. This year’s Rod Run would have been the 37th in the event’s history.

Rod Run ordinarily caps the Peninsula’s busy visitor season, attracting thousands of car fans beyond the hundred who officially register in the event. It is by far the biggest tourist-oriented event in the Ocean Park-Nahcotta area.

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