After consulting with state and local groups, the Texas State Cotton Ginners’ Association has decided to cancel the Texas Gin Show and Annual Meeting, originally planned for April 2-3 in Lubbock, Texas, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“This was an extremely difficult decision for our leaders as we are very aware this decision will affect many people,” the TCGA board wrote on its website. “The growing concern over the COVID-19 outbreak was key in making the decision as it has been for many other organizations including Texas Independent Ginners’ Association and Texas Agricultural Cooperative Council, which had to cancel meetings this past week.
“The City of Lubbock has announced they will meet later today to cap public gatherings in the city at 200 people, leaving us with one option — to cancel the gin show.
“At the end of the day, we must put the health of our members, exhibitors and everyone who attends the gin show first. We do not want to create an environment that puts people at risk and goes completely against what our government is telling us to do.”
Although TCGA board members had discussed postponing the show, they had no way of choosing an appropriate future date based on the current fluid novel coronavirus situation.
TCGA plans to offer exhibitors the option of receiving a refund for their booth space, deferring their payment to next year’s show or donating the fee to the Cotton Museum.
For more information, contact TCGA at 512-476-8388 or info@tcga.org.