Organizers of the annual Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland announced that they are postponing the popular event.

“We will be canvassing our exhibitors and attendees for their thoughts on rescheduling the Maine Boatbuilders Show,” said Phin Sprague, show organizer.

He added:

The unprecedented and rapidly evolving public response to containing this virus pandemic demands commensurate cooperation.

The effort to attend the Maine Boatbuilders Show is dependent upon the strength and quality of the sum of the exhibitors and the attendance that the exhibitors draw.

Consulting with exhibitors, we find that given the sum total of this economic disruption, our exhibitors prefer not to put their employees at risk and make the additional financial investment in hotels and travel.

Three days ago we were looking at our years of experience with winter viruses and proceeding confidently to hold the event. This public panic will pass. Never the less almost instantly, the containment efforts for this virus have become a clear and present economic condition that all businesses must address. We are massively disrupting our society.

The H1-N1 “swine” epidemic in 2009 appears worse than what is going on now. The Maine Boatbuilders Show has weathered bomb threats after 911, Civil unrest, market collapses in the spring of 2008 all addressable because we could keep calm as a society and carry on. A solid foundation of calm and determination to not be disrupted doesn’t appear to be the case this time around.

These are Joanna’s and my thoughts at this time.

Howling into the wind!