WORTHINGTON -- What was being touted as the first actual blizzard in almost 10 years blew into the region on Thursday, canceling countless events and plunging others into a state of limbo.
Virtually everything planned for Thursday afternoon and evening was cancelled or postponed, including the Daily Globe-sponsored Taste of Home Cooking School at Memorial Auditorium in Worthington. Even though the presenter for the evening, Taste of Home Culinary Specialist Erin Frakes, made it to Worthington and stayed at a local hotel on Wednesday night, the event had to be rescheduled for a date yet to be decided.
The decision to postpone wasn't made until Thursday morning, just in case there was a chance the show could go on.
"Especially because Erin was already here, we wanted to hold off just as long as we could in case the weather didn't explode as it did," explained Daily Globe Publisher Joni Harms as the snow began to blow in earnest on Thursday afternoon. "That's why we waited until this morning to make that decision."
The new date for the cooking school is dependent on Frakes' upcoming schedule as well as available dates at Memorial Auditorium.
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"Because we actually had to book this event a year and a half in advance, it will be a few days before we clarify what the actual reschedule date will be," continued Harms. "The show also involved a lot of other local sponsors and participants in the booths for the pre-show event, so all those people needed to be contacted.
"Right now, we're just asking the current ticket holders to hang on to their tickets, and when we get the new date, hopefully that will work with their schedule. Also, we did not completely sell out, so there will be tickets available for other people who are interested if Thursday was a day that did not work out for them."
Some events scheduled for Friday were already cancelled on Thursday, based on predictions of continued snow and strong winds.
A reception planned for Gary Bigbear, a Native American artist now living in Columbia, Wash., Friday night at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Worthington campus, was rescheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday evening in hopes of drawing a bigger crowd once the dangerous conditions had passed.
But some organizers were taking a wait-and-see approach on Thursday afternoon, hoping to still go ahead as planned with weekend happenings.
"So far, we're going to keep it as scheduled," said Darlene Macklin, executive director of the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday afternoon regarding the Home, Health and Garden Show slated for Friday and Saturday at the Northland Mall in Worthington. "It doesn't start until 4 on Friday, and the majority of the vendors are from Worthington, so we'll have to see. Besides that, people might want to get out after the snowstorm."
Based on the latest weather forecast, Macklin was planning to decide the event's fate this morning.
"We'll make a decision tomorrow. If nothing else, we'll go with a one-day show and just have it on Saturday," she added.
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No matter what today's weather brings, people were being advised to pay attention to the forecast and cancellation notices or call in advance before heading out to any scheduled event.
