600 Sign Petition For Ban

WALTON – Fifty participants in the Fair for All movement seeking a ban on the sale of Confederate flags at the Delaware County Fair today were barred at the fair gates from delivering a 600-signature petition, according to spokesperson Laura McClure.

When the 50 Fair for All supporters approached the gate, a security guard closed it, said McClure. Then Ed Rossley, president of the fair board, arrived, told them they could not enter, and declined to accept the petition. The fair board’s secretary later accepted the document, the spokesperson said.

“We plan to continue our campaign until the fair board no longer allows vendors to profit from selling this hateful symbol,” said Christine Hunt Wood, a Fair for All founder and 4-H leader. She encouraged fairgoers who agree with banning sale of the flag to sign the petition at bitly.com/hatespoilsthefun.

“The Confederate flag is a seed, and its fruits are the death we witnessed yesterday,” said Burr Hubbell, a local businessman, noting today’s activities followed yesterday’s confrontation between white supremacists and protesters in Charlottesville, Va., that resulted in one death and 20 injuries. “It has no rightful place in our country, and certainly not at our fair.”

Other speakers included a local pastor, Bobby Outterson-Murphy of the United Ministry of Delhi; local NAACP leader Shannon McHugh, and the other Fair for All co-founder Leslie Kaufman, former rabbit barn superintendent at the fair.