The town of North Brookfield, Massachusetts, has canceled a Fourth of July celebration after the local board of health and the governor raised concerns.
The Board of Selectmen had approved an Independence Day event, which included a parade, but they have decided to postpone it to an undetermined date.
In a statement, the selectmen said the planned event would have attracted fewer than 250 residents, allowing for "socially distanced activity" that presented less "public health risk" than recent protests or activity at a local beach.
The selectmen blamed the town’s board of health for the cancellation, saying it had notified the news media of the celebration.
"By alerting the news media from Worcester to Boston, the Board of Health alerted thousands of people to the existence of this event and effectively invited thousands of potential visitors to crowd into our small town thereby creating a true public health risk and an unmanageable public safety threat," the statement said.
Board of Health member Ethan Melad said he did alert the media. But, he added, "
