When the weather’s nice, taking indoor activities outside to help reduce exposure to COVID-19 isn’t merely a necessity at the North Alabama Agriplex; it can even be a lot of fun. With a focus on rural skills and agricultural heritage, being outdoors gets right at the heart of the Cullman-based nonprofit’s mission.

But when the thermometer plunges, getting people to spend two hours outside in the chill becomes a bigger ask. That’s why, only days after revealing a holiday-themed series of events for December, the Agriplex has decided to instead cancel its entire activity calendar for the month — even though the pandemic isn’t currently affecting anyone on staff.

“No one’s sick here, and we definitely want to keep it that way,” said Agriplex director Rachel Dawsey on Wednesday. “We had been doing really well by having all our programs outside, and then the cold weather hit. It’s so cold now that we don’t feel that we can ask people to come out and endure that; especially families with children, all winter long.”

Among this month’s planned programs was a wreath-making class taught by Dawsey herself. And while some types of Agriplex events do lend themselves to online instruction in lieu of on-site participation, Dawsey said her step-by-step how-tos probably aren’t among them.

“I thought about taking the wreath-making online and doing it as a virtual class — but we decided that people probably aren’t going to want to follow along with me,” she laughed.

Dawsey stressed that the weather is the biggest factor in pushing the Agriplex to suspend its activities for the month, and that there’s been no surge in coronavirus cases among her staff and volunteers. But, in the interest of public health, she felt it’s better to ask people to wait a little longer to join in on all the kids’ programs, lectures, and adult skills classes — rather than move everything inside.

“We want everyone to stay well, and we’re watching the weather to see when we may resume,” she said. “We’re planning for March, but we could end up having great weather in February, so for now we’re playing things by ear.”

To stay up to date on when the Agriplex will pick up its calendar of events, follow the nonprofit at @NorthAlabamaAgriplex on Facebook.