Car horns signalling a birthday car parade was a common event during Covid
By Kathy Rowe
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 a global pandemic. Two days later the doors to the Port Union C.C. closed, and my job was put on hold. Yes, this was a very scary time for everyone. But during those days of uncertainty, people in our community came together, got creative and did their best to maintain a “glass half full” perspective. It is this perspective that I am writing about in my report.
How many times have you heard someone say, “Oh, that was pre-COVID!” The pandemic is most definitely a marker of time. The days of the lockdown meant that we couldn’t gather to be idle together. Many of us baked the time away. We made banana bread, cookies and cakes, and flour and sugar flew from the store shelves.
Making bread became really popular and soon yeast was all sold out. Sourdough bread is made without yeast, so baking it became all the rage. The daughter of a friend of mine created a YouTube channel with tutorials on how to make sourdough bread. She cleverly called it “Bread in Captivity.” The channel is still available to watch, and I highly recommend it if you are wanting to make the perfect loaf of sourdough bread.
Lining up for groceries six feet apart made shopping an arduous outing. Remember the ridiculous rush on toilet paper? What was that all about? Zoom became a household word. I remember learning how to use Zoom so that I could see my friends. We’d play games, and share our stories about living in crazy times.
I don’t have young children, but I know that young families had too many challenges to mention during that lockdown. Netflix became a household word too. Netflix series binge watching was the way many of us spent our afternoons and evenings. The Netflix show “Ozark” was all the rage in my house. I remember lots of outdoor time with long walks, picnics and garage hang-outs.
What about community? How did we lift each other up during the lockdown? There were many drive-by car parades that celebrated birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. You would go outside and hear the car horns signalling that a parade was happening nearby. Parents organized children’s Halloween parades when trick or treating was cancelled.
Pieces of art like painted stones with inspirational pictures and sayings were scattered around the boulevards. I remember walking one day when I saw the words “stay strong, we’ve got this” painted on a small board near the sidewalk. That made my day. Acts of kindness were everywhere. Residents delivered treats and meals to staff of the long-term care centre on Island Road.
There were many fundraisers taking place on social media. The CCRA put together a huge community fundraiser for the Tony Stacey Centre driven by the power of social media. It ended with an impressive car parade through the community and a $20,000 cheque to the veterans care facility. I’ll never forget that. Five years ago this month the pandemic changed our lives forever.
If you have memories of that time that you’d like to share, we’d like to print them. Send your emails to: Kathryn Stocks at editor@ccranews.com.