Bloomsburg Fair officials say an impersonator at a dunk tank over the weekend, lower right, was initially trying to look like actress Marilyn Monroe, top, not Dr. Rachel Levine, lower left.
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BLOOMSBURG — He was supposed to look like Marilyn Monroe.
Officials with the Bloomsburg Fair on Tuesday held a press conference to apologize for controversial weekend incident in which a man representing an area fire company took a dip into a dunk tank at a charity event apparently dressed as state Health Director Dr. Rachel Levine, who is transgender.
That person was not connected with the fair, but rather with a fire company that was participating in a charity event on the fairgrounds. The dunk tank was part of a weekend carnival held on the fairgrounds to benefit the region’s volunteer fire departments.
Bloomsburg Fair Association President Randy Karschner declined to name the man.
Officials also said they understood the man wearing glasses, blonde wig and a flower print dress was trying to look like Monroe, the late actress, and not Pennsylvania’s health secretary.
“Unfortunately, this soon transformed into a disrespectful parody” of Dr. Levine, a statement relased by the fair stated.
The incident became news when it was briefly posted to the fair’s Facebook page on Monday, referencing Levine.
“Dr. Levine? Thank you you were a hit and raised a lot of money for the local fire companies. Wonder why so many were trying to dunk you,” said the Bloomsburg Fair Association’s post, which included a smiley-face emoji.
“On behalf of the Bloomsburg Fair Association Board of Directors, our sincerest apologies go out to Dr. Levine, our shareholders, our sponsors and others for this serious lapse in judgment,” Tuesday’s apology read. “The fair prides itself on celebrating the diversity and inclusion of all who visit the fairgrounds.”
“The Fair Board, staff, volunteers and partners will make it a priority to see that actions such as these never happen again,” it added.
‘It was just in fun’
According to the AP, The Press Enterprise newspaper of Bloomsburg identified the man in the dunk tank as Main Township Fire Chief David Broadt, who told the newspaper he did not set out to impersonate Levine — he said he was “going for a Marilyn Monroe look” — but decided to play along once he got into the dunk tank and people started saying he resembled Levine and shouting, “Where’s your mask?”
“It was just in fun,” Broadt said. “It wasn’t done to disrespect her.”
Bloomsburg Fair Association President Randy Karschner and grandstand superintendent Brian Wawroski spoke to the media on Tuesday at the fairgrounds.
“This is something we needed to address in person,” Karschner said of the press conference. “We needed to show we are sincere about this. These gates are open to everybody, it doesn’t matter what community you’re from.”
Fair plans
Karschner said the group’s focus remains on making sure the 165-year-old fair happens in late September as planned, and with full focus on keeping visitors and vendors safe amid the ongoing pandemic.
He added that the fair has been in touch with Levine’s office and that there was no ongoing issue involving the dunk-tank incident, but rather important discussions about virus safety.
“We’ll do everything we can do and post all the rules and regulations,” he said.
So as of now, the fair is still on, “but right now it’s 50-50,” Karschner said when asked whether he personally felt it will take place.
“We’ve said all along we’d go into the first week of August,” Karschner said when asked how long officials have to make a decision about holding the fair as scheduled and keep vendors apprised.
But, he acknowledged that the situation for all groups in Pennsylvania remains fluid.
“The rules changed last Thursday,” he said, referencing a new order involving bars, restaurants and businesses issued last week by Gov. Tom Wolf. “You can’t really write your game plan when the goal posts keep moving.”