June 18th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

Citing a combination of factors, the cancelation of a Mineral County fall tradition was announced Thursday afternoon. The Cumberland Times News reports the 47th Burlington Apple Harvest Festival, scheduled the first weekend in October on the main campus of Burlington United Methodist Family Services.

In addition to social distancing considerations, auxiliary president Cindy Clark said the decision to cancel the festival was also caused in part by an April 24 fire that ravaged a building on the agency's campus. The building destroyed was used to hold equipment used in the festival, resource development manager Cynthia Pyles told the Times-News shortly after the fire occurred. 

"We lost a one-of-a-kind apple peeler, copper kettles, electric stirrers, all of our jars. It's all gone and the building was destroyed,” Pyles said at the time. "We were in the process of finishing a new maintenance building.”

The next festival will be held in 2021.