'Sweet Soulful Sunday' bicentennial event canceled amid virus uncertainty

A Sunday event planned as part of the August Bicentennial Bash has been canceled.

"With all the uncertainty we're facing about any type of gathering, I think it's probably wise to go ahead and say we're not doing that event," Callaway 200 committee member Bruce Hackmann said.

The outdoors, downtown Fulton portion of the Bicentennial Bash is still planned for Aug. 29. Sweet Soulful Sunday, a joint event by many Callaway County churches, was planned for Aug. 30. The free event would have taken place at 54 Country and featured live music and sweet treats. The Bicentennial Bash itself was delayed from this weekend to August due to the ongoing pandemic.

Susan Krumm, Callaway 200 co-chair, said the suggestion to cancel the event came from fellow committee member and event coordinator Melissa Siegel and the Rev. Rebecca Dunger-Peak, pastor at Court Street and Shiloh United Methodist Church.

Siegel and Dunger-Peak gave the following reasons:

Several churches participating are still not in full session and so are having difficulty planning the event.

Older potential participants may still be leery of gathering indoors due to COVID-19.

The cost of renting the building wouldn't be worth it if the number of attendees is limited.

Many area churches are avoiding congregational singing due to its potential to spread airborne pathogens.

"I think all of those are valid points," Krumm said.

Hackmann agreed, though he noted it's unfortunate - the Callaway 200 committee has been rooting for a church-led Sunday event since early on in the planning process.

Committee members voted unanimously to make the cancellation official.

As Fulton City Council member Jeff Stone pointed out, the event's cancellation doesn't prevent churches from participating in other ways.

"(The churches') service that day needs to be reflective, maybe, of the 200th anniversary," he said. "We could ask them, say, we were hoping to celebrate this on Sunday, now we're going to spread the wealth."

"I can remember when all churches had their own ceremonies in 1976 for our country's bicentennial anniversary," Hackmann added.

He suggested pastors theme their sermons around Callaway County's history and 200th anniversary on Nov. 22, the Sunday before the actual anniversary of the county's founding, Nov. 25.

With Phase 1 of Missouri's reopening process extended to June 15 and new cases still cropping up in the county, committee members are growing nervous about whether the Bicentennial Bash can happen in August at all.

"If it has to be canceled, I don't think it can be held this year," Krumm said. "I think we'd have to take a long hard look at that. You all certainly didn't sign up to extend (the planning process) by a year."

But, she said, 2021 is Missouri's bicentennial - so if the celebration did have to be further delayed, there would still be plenty to celebrate. The topic came up at Tuesday's Fulton City Council meeting, she added.

"I told the council that if can't have (the Bash), we would have to do something public to acknowledge all the donors," she said. "I think the remainder of funds would have to be returned to the donors, in proportion to how much they gave."

The committee still has time to make a final call in the coming weeks, Krumm said.

If all goes as planned, the Aug. 29 Bicentennial Bash will feature a performance by Shenandoah, street musicians, walking tours, a showing of the Fulton-inspired 1942 movie "Kings Row" and much more. To learn more, visit callaway200.com.