Tree Planting Festival will begin Friday as Lane County returns to ‘extreme risk’ for COVID-19

By DOUG BATES/Editor/The Herald — Organizers of the 68th Oakridge-Westfir Tree Planting Festival were scrambling Wednesday to figure out how the event’s schedule will be affected by the latest twist and turn in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The festival is to begin Friday with the coronation of a queen. But Friday is also the day when 15 Oregon counties, including Lane, move to the “extreme risk” level because of the recent surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations around the state.

“I’m sure the schedule will be affected, but I need to confirm how it will be affected, so please hold off on publishing any updates for now,” said Tree Planting Festival publicist Amy Prince of Oakridge. “All the relevant info will be updated on our website by this time tomorrow so we can always just send people there.”

Because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday announced updates to county risk levels under the state’s public health framework. With hospitalizations rising above 300 people statewide, threatening to overwhelm doctors and nurses, she said 15 counties will move to the extreme risk level effective Friday, April 30 through Thursday, May 6.

In addition, nine counties will be in the high risk level, four at moderate risk, and eight at lower risk. A complete list of counties and their risk levels is available here.

Fortunately for the Tree Planting Festival, which announced its three-day schedule just two weeks ago, many of the planned events are to be “virtual.” That means conducted electronically, via the Internet, rather than involving mass gatherings.

Entrants in the festival’s talent show, for example, were invited to submit electronically and be presented on the festival’s YouTube channel. A “virtual voting form” on the festival website and social media so members of the community can vote electronically through midnight on Thursday, April 29.

The winner, however, is scheduled to perform live at the festival’s opening event, a coronation ceremony set for 3 p.m. Friday at the Banner Bank Amphitheater in Greenwaters Park. It was not clear on Wednesday whether that public gathering can still occur under the county’s “extreme risk” classification — a level that bans indoor dining at restaurants.

Some festival events, such as a “virtual quilt show and raffle” and a “geocache scavenger hunt,” appear to be safe from COVID-19 restrictions. Others, such as Oakridge museum and art gallery tours, may be in jeopardy.

The uncertainty is reflected in a letter drafted Tuesday by Lane County commissioners and co-signed by, among others, the Oakridge-Westfir Chamber of Commerce. It asks the governor to take steps to help businesses survive the whipsaw effect of changing rules as state health authorities grapple with the pandemic.

In her statement Tuesday, Brown said the move from high to extreme risk for the 15 counties was urgent.

“If we don’t act now, doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other health care providers in Oregon will be stretched to their limits treating severe cases of COVID-19,” said Brown. “Today’s announcement will save lives and help stop COVID-19 hospitalizations from spiking even higher.”

Brown is partnering with lawmakers to approve a $20 million small business emergency relief package to immediately support impacted businesses in extreme risk counties through the commercial rent relief program.