BLOOMSBURG FAIR DODGED A BULLET

There are many flags and balloons soaring upward at the Bloomsburg Fair.

But none are floating as high, nor have received as much notice, as the red flag raised this week when a vendor was booted from the fairgrounds and told not to return. The "family fun fair" had to evict the vendor after public outrage, which, quite frankly, gave the otherwise-upbeat event a black eye.

It started when attendee Chloe Winters was shocked to see a large Nazi flag on display right next to a Trump flag. She posted the photo on Facebook and it went viral.

Her heartbreaking comments about the Nazi banner stand out: "This flag represents the brutal and horrific genocide of innocent people. It stands for the hatred and destruction of a religion I feel blessed to be a part of. It's 2016 and the world is still full of so much hate. When is it going to end? I'm sad to say that I'll never go to the Bloomsburg Fair again, but it looks like I'm not wanted there anyway."

The photo of the flag was so objectionable that Facebook removed it for violating their standards.

Interestingly, the foul-mouthed vendor was asked to leave the fair, not because of the flag, but due to a surprise revelation: he's a convicted sex offender.

In 2007, he was charged with more than 20 counts related to child pornography. He'll continue to be listed on the Megan's Law registry until the day he dies.

Fair President Paul Reichert issued a statement saying, in part: "Unfortunately, we have over 1,200 vendors on our fairgrounds and it's difficult to monitor each one individually."

Truth is, the fair dropped the ball. The organizers might not be able to monitor each vendor individually; but they do need to preapprove each.

Why wasn't the offending man prescreened by the fair committee? Exactly what kinds of checks and balances do they use in preparing for the event?

Of course, in this case, one could argue endlessly about First Amendment and civil rights implications from both sides of the aisle. This situation is loaded from just about every angle.

But there's a clear warning here for everybody involved with planning fairs and festivals, including those in the Times News coverage area: Be diligent in prescreening all of your applicants.

Many vendors are transients and might be unfamiliar to you. Do your homework. In today's world, you just can't have an open-door policy and accept a vendor application from anybody who walks through the door.

Thankfully, the matter was resolved in Bloomsburg and nothing worse happened in what could have been a very explosive ordeal on several levels.

Still, the 161st Bloomsburg Fair will be remembered for a high-profile incident that dodged a bullet and raised a red flag.

By Donald R. Serfass | dserfass@tnonline.com