text: Arcadia Daze canceled due to coronavirus pandemic - Manistee News Advocate
  https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/Arcadia-Daze-canceled-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-15249690.php
  Popular Arcadia Daze events including the annual Auto Muster have been canceled amid the pandemic. (File photo)
  ARCADIA — Manistee County's popular Arcadia Daze festival at Finch Park in Arcadia is canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Milton Whitmore, Arcadia Daze chairperson announced the decision on Facebook.
  "This was not an easy decision -- as you might imagine -- but one that we felt had to be made," Whitmore's statement read. "As you might know, the Daze is the club's main source of revenue that allows us to support community projects in Arcadia, neighboring townships, as well as Benzie and Manistee counties."
  "During the course of the year, we will donate to various places, organizations and groups ... well over $10,000," he said. "We're financially sound, but we will have to do some belt tightening."
  While the decision to cancel Arcadia Daze was unanimous among the club's leadership, Whitmore said the response has been mixed within the community.
  "There were about six people that strongly protested the cancellation of Arcadia Daze," Whitmore said, adding that none who raised objections were signed up to volunteer for the event.
  Despite the loss in funding, which the yearly festival raises for the Arcadia Lions Club, Whitmore said that his organization's top priority is to maintain the safety and well-being of its members, volunteers and event attendees -- many of whom belong to high-risk groups.
  "This virus is not a joke; it's not politics," Whitmore said. "Just about all our Lions Club members are concerned because we're in that vulnerable age group. Many of our volunteers are in that vulnerable age group as well, and we couldn't in good conscience ask others to volunteer, when we were reluctant."
  With this year's Arcadia Daze celebrations canceled, Whitmore said the Arcadia Lions Club is considering other options to raise revenue to support the club's projects and outreach efforts.
  Some ideas include hosting a socially-distanced raffle, a GoFundMe fundraiser and a virtual 5K run in place of Arcadia Daze. The group also plans on selling Arcadia Daze 2020 T-shirts in commemoration of what Whitmore calls "the lost Daze."
  The next Arcadia Daze is scheduled for July 17-19, 2021, which Whitmore hopes to make "the best ever."
  "I'm looking forward to working again with the community," he said. "Arcadia Daze is a community effort. The community comes together, works together and if there was any one thing that I am looking forward to, it's seeing that again."