Positivity Day will continue in Chatham-Kent this fall despite the COVID-19 pandemic but it will be modified to keep everyone safe.
Mayor Darrin Canniff said the 12 Days of Positivity will be held mostly virtually in late October or early November if all goes well and may include other changes -- that's a month later than usual.
Mayor Canniff said with the pandemic, the municipality doesn't want to start creating crowds, so they have come up with some alternative arrangements this year. He added there will be some visits by Captain Positive but they will follow social distancing rules. The mayor also said event organizers are trying to accommodate school schedules and the event will be modified this year to keep everyone extra safe.
"We discussed with the schools just recently maintaining the past schedule of doing it and they're just not ready for it. So, we're going to be doing it later in October or early November when the schools have a little more time to settle in," said Canniff. "The 12 Days of Positivity is geared a lot towards the schools and much of it will be virtual with videos and various things like that but stay tuned. We will be doing it, it's just deferred to tie into the school schedule."
In the past, the 12 Days of Positivity have had a different theme each day and the goal of the initiative is to encourage an optimistic attitude for residents and to make Chatham-Kent a more positive place overall.