By Melody Vallieu
TROY — In light of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s recent loosening of COVID-19 restrictions on events, the Troy Strawberry Festival Board of Directors has announced a smaller-scale event to replace the annual festival.
The Strawberry Jam, scheduled for Friday, June 4, and Saturday, June 5, will include food and music, but will not include arts and crafts vendors, according to the board’s release. More details on the Strawberry Jam will be released as they become available, according to the release.
Troy Mayor Robin Oda said she is happy with the board’s decision to create another event to fill the festival’s void.
“We are very happy that the Friday night event will still go on and while there won’t be a Strawberry Festival this year, that there will be activities and events on Saturday of that same weekend,” Oda said.
This event, the release states, will require less monetary and human resources.
“It was the intent of the board to have some type of event that weekend,” said Linda Roth, board chairwoman. “We understand the importance of the festival to the non-profits, local business and the community. We are happy we were able to reconvene after the governor’s announcement and move forward with this new event.”
“To clarify, this is a smaller, different event. It is not the Troy Strawberry Festival. The full festival will return in 2022,” the board’s news release reads.
Oda said while the city is always involved in the annual festival, staff also will be helping with this event.
“The city is always involved with the Troy Strawberry Festival logistics, and this will be no different. We are waiting for details from the festival board, but will do whatever we can to help pull this off.”
Oda said the new guidelines from the governor on events also will help other events scheduled in the city.
“They absolutely help, and they are long overdue,” Oda said.
