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If not for three-straight cancellations due to the pandemic, this island would likely be in the midst of preparations for the landmark 100th Maui Fair.
Tents and food booths would be up by now at War Memorial Complex in Wailuku. E.K. Fernandez workers would be setting up rides and games in the Joy Zone. Club, church and nonprofit members would be busy nailing down four-day volunteer schedules for their booths. Some would already be shopping and cooking to prepare for their organization's biggest fundraiser of the year. Ranchers, farmers, orchid growers, photographers, student artists and home crafters would be finishing up their entries to the many exhibits.
Instead, the Maui Fair is canceled again and organizers are uncertain there will ever be 98th annual event, let alone a 100th. Maui Fair Alliance President Avery Chumbley says uncertainties caused by COVID-19 and skyrocketing costs to ship amusement rides in from Oahu are just two of the reasons he cannot guarantee Maui's grandest community celebration will return next year.
"Maybe 2023," Chumbley said Friday. "I use that word maybe, I think that's important. We've lost momentum. We've lost the support of the volunteers who stepped up to support the event for 97 years. We don't have a succession plan and we don't have a lot of money.
"Will there be a 98th Maui Fair in 2023? I do not know. I cannot say with certainty and I hope that is a message that resonates with this community and that some people step up to help preserve it."
What a loss that would be. The Maui Fair has been a cultural touchstone, a place where family memories were made. If spending money was your thing, the Maui Fair's rides, games and wide variety of food booths were good places to empty your wallet. There was also a lot of fun free stuff to do, including taking in the entertainment, browsing exhibits and listening to hucksters in the Better Living tent.
The fair was where you stopped to talk to friends and family. Where you supported your favorite causes by buying their food, or maybe even working a shift in a booth yourself. Old timers fondly recall the Kahului Fairgrounds and its horse races, demolition derbies and dedicated exhibit halls.
Chumbley says he would love to see the historic event continue, but it will require an infusion of help.
"We need to rebuild and grow our board of directors with enthusiastic and dedicated individuals who care about the community and who are willing to commit their time to invest in the event," he said.
The Maui Fair seemed too big, too popular, to fold its tents for good, but a bad case of COVID-19 now has it on life support. Whether it survives is up to us.