MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – The SUNY Orange Foundation and Orange County Community College (SUNY Orange) announce that the 36th annual Orange County Home Show, scheduled for this weekend (March 13-15) at the Diana Physical Education Center in Middletown, will not be held. No makeup date will be scheduled.

The Home Show was expected to feature approximately 100 vendors and draw large numbers of visitors from throughout the mid-Hudson region.

“We are concerned about the potential ‘community spread’ of COVID-19 when sizable populations of people gather in a confined indoor space,” said Dr. Kristine Young, SUNY Orange president. “The College’s Emergency Management Team has been discussing potential responses to, and outcomes of, COVID-19 for several weeks, and we are taking guidance from respected experts from the Orange County Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, State University of New York, and others, to consider the merits of holding large-scale gatherings indoors.

“It is important for the College and the Foundation to be good neighbors. We are all facing a growing public health concern that requires us to consider the safety and well-being of our greater Hudson Valley community,” she added.

“The COVID-19 situation is rapidly evolving and we are working closely with all of our community partners in helping them make informed decisions about the risk that is involved in holding large-scale events at this time,” said Dr. Irina Gelman, Orange County commissioner of health.

“We are sympathetic to the inconvenience this creates for McCarey Exposition Management, the vendors who had committed to the show, and those who were hoping to attend,” explained Dawn Ansbro, executive director of the SUNY Orange Foundation. “We had hoped this wouldn’t become necessary, but circumstances, as they exist today, dictate that we make a prudent decision for the long-term benefit of all involved.”

Over the past several days in particular, many large-scale gatherings, conferences and expositions across the nation have been canceled or postponed as health officials, community leaders and citizens respond to the complex and far-reaching implications of the virus.