From Patrons for Bellaire Parks:
Wine and Tapas has long served as PATRONS for Bellaire Parks’ largest fundraiser. It is an event that has made the numerous donations for enhancements of our area parks, such as Loftin, Evergreen and Ware Family Park and gathering green spaces, such as Bellaire Town Square, possible. Due to the growing concerns around COVID-19 and it’s potential threat, the Board has made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of Wine and Tapas 2020.
This was a difficult decision – Wine and Tapas is an incredibly important event for our community and for our park system. We weighed the practicality and health risks of holding the in-person component of the Gala and it was decided that the community and the health of our area families need to be our priority.
We ultimately concluded that we cannot predict how this virus will affect our area in the next few weeks to months and we cannot therefore predict if holding our event could be a health risk to our attendees and exponentially to our community. We are being guided by the example in the US of major events being postponed or canceled through mid-May to safeguard against COVID-19 and its spread. So, although the current risk to the community is low, we feel we need to be proactive to help prevent the potential transmission of the disease. Many public gatherings and events have been postponed, canceled or turned into online experiences.
We will, however, make Wine and Tapas Goes International an online event that will contain a Silent Auction, Cork Pull, and potential other digital components. Final plans are being refined and we will be providing additional communications to our community, event sponsors, and vendors in the coming few days.
Additionally, we will be picking up where we have left off for 2021, and are excited that Chief Byron Holloway and Linda Holloway have agreed to be our honorees for next year. Patrons is in the process of contacting the wonderful area businesses and supporters who have given to this event to provide options for sponsoring other events and discussing alternate recognition opportunities.
We remain committed to the City of Bellaire and the communities that surround it and appreciate your patience as we finalize alternate details. We hope to do our part to help slow the spread of coronavirus by working together as a community. We thank you for your patience, understanding, and commitment to our parks and community.
Sincerely,
The Patrons for Bellaire Parks Board
