LULA – Lula’s first (and hopefully only) victim of the COVID-19 pandemic is not a person, rather it’s the city’s time-honored spring festival: Railroad Days.
Lula Mayor Jim Grier made the recommendation at Monday’s online city council work session to cancel the annual celebration scheduled for May 8 and 9. “You may run me out of town for suggesting that, but I think it’s probably the only thing that we really can do,” Grier said.
Railroad Days celebrates the city’s rich history and relationship with the railroad that runs through downtown Lula. It would have been the 44th edition of Railroad Days.
“We really had some grand plans in place for it,” Grier told council members. “When Spring rolls around we all get excited about (it).”
Grier said that with less than four weeks until the scheduled event, most of the preparation work for the gathering that attracts people from across the state has had to wait due to Coronavirus restrictions. “There’s a lot to be done, and with the constraints we have on our staff right now…I’m not so sure we’d be able to do it and still maintain our social-distancing.”
Council member Marvin Moore agreed. “Until this virus gets straightened out I think it’s our best choice.”
