A well-known local businessman and organizer of the annual Quinte Sportsman and RV Show says at this point in time he doesn’t believe he’ll run the popular springtime event again.
Jeff Cox tells Quinte News he was “raked over the coals” after a deluge of thousands of social media comments criticizing the fact that the show continued over the weekend despite escalating worry about the spread of the new coronavirus.
“I should be run out of town, I should be strung up, I’m the worst guy in the world!”
Cox said people need to understand that contracts were signed, over $300,000 had been invested in the show and the vast majority of the vendors on hand really wanted to get the show in to save their own businesses.
“We put 6 months of work into the show. We had no choice. If I cancel the show I go bankrupt, my employees are out of work. But still I took a major financial hit on the show, but I’m a big boy and I know with business there’s risk. I’ll pay my bills,” declared Cox.
Out of concern about the public’s health, hand sanitizer was widely available at the show and regular cleaning efforts were made several times a day by staff.
Attendance was vastly down this year, from the usual 15,000 – 20,000 to only 2,400 however Cox said that surprisingly the vendors did very well.
“I guess all the people that go to the show as kind of a day out stayed away while people who had a real interest in buying stuff showed up.”
Cox stressed running the show was not against the law and many more people were at businesses such as Walmart, the Quinte Mall or Shorelines Casino.
“I run the show and get blasted by people but nobody worries about all of the other stores. I don’t feel good. I need time off but can’t take it. Right now I don’t think I’ll do the show next year.”
