Cedar Rapids Petting Farm Cutting Hours for Rest of Season

It's a very common tale these days, unfortunately.

Yes, a lot of the fun stuff we love doing and cool places we love going to are finally reopening as (for now) the pandemic looks like it's easing up. There's just one problem: there aren't enough workers at these places to stay open and operational under normal hours.

We heard last week that Lost Island Waterpark in Waterloo will close on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting August 3. That will remain in effect until they close entirely for the season on August 22.

According to Iowa's News Now, Old MacDonald's Farm in Cedar Rapids is making a change starting this Sunday, August 1. Effective immediately, it will close Sundays and will adjust hours being open Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. as previously scheduled.

Iowa's News Now reports that "the new hours are based on average daily attendance numbers to impact the fewest patrons. Historically, attendance for the season starts to decrease in August."

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Pre-pandemic, you might have seen a lot of these places continue to try and stay open while short-staffed, so in a sense, it's good they may be learning not to stretch their existing workers too thin.

The City of Cedar Rapids website describes Old MacDonald's Farm, located in Bever Park at 2700 Bever Ave. SE, as "a free petting farm that is open to the public and features farm animals and North American waterfowl. This city landmark is over 100 years old and is enjoyed by people of all ages." You'll have one less day the rest of the summer to visit their chickens, cattle, ducks, goats, guinea pigs, lambs, pigs, rabbits (and even tortoises), but service hours will be re-evaluated after school starts.