One year ago today, many of you may have been looking forward to 2020. Obviously, it turned out to be a dog of a year, making us all eager to turn the page.
I know we’re all looking forward to saying a big goodbye to 2020. But in looking back I can’t help but notice one of its silver linings. The pandemic did bring out (or highlight) the best in some members of our community.
So, before we say good riddance to the year, I’m revisiting stories I ran in 2020 tagged “Coming together during Coronavirus“.
Looking back over the eternally long seeming year, here are some highlights of the many ways community members stepped up this year:
Making holidays, special days, and regular days brighter
- Southborough’s Front Steps – Early on in the spring lockdown, a Southborough resident put her photography skills to charitable use from a safe distance, while helping raise the community’s spirits. Read about that here.
- Easter Bunny – Southborough Fire and Police departments helped bring in a very special visitor the day before Easter. Read about that here.
- Birthday Drive Bys – Southborough’s emergency responders offered to cheer up kids on their birthdays by driving by in a police cruiser and/or fire truck. Read about that here.
- Memorial Day parade – Volunteers cheered up locked-down senior citizens in town in need of a smile by organizing a special car parade for Memorial Day. Read about that here.
- Kindergroup’s family fun – During lockdown this spring, parents were struggling to keep their tots happy (and keep their own sanity). Southborough Kindergroup organized ways of entertaining kids and feeling connected. That included virtual events, storytimes, an egg hunt, and more. Read about that here.
- Halloween fun – Different groups offered alternative ways to celebrate Halloween for families leery of trick-or-treating or missing regular festivities. That included a Girl Scout organized Jack O’Lantern Drive By. Read about that here.
- Santa Day – Southborough Public Safety helped bring Santa to Town to wave at kids from a distance. Read about that here.
Teens offered their service to community and peers
- Essential Errands – Although the Senior Center ultimately let me know that it was safer for Southborough seniors to reach out to them for needed aid, it’s still worth noting that area teens stepped up to offer their help to those too vulnerable to run errands outside their homes. You can read about here.
- Algonquin Writing Center – A group of students from Algonquin modified their website to throw a lifeline to remote schooling peers struggling with their writing. Read about that here.
- K-12 Tutoring – This summer, a group of Southborough teens launched a free, online K-12 tutoring service. Read about that here.
There were also a slew of collection drives, fundraisers, virtual and socially distanced events this year. I just can’t highlight them all. Click here to look back at more coverage of how the community worked to feel less isolated, offer aid, spread some joy or help mitigate stress throughout the pandemic.
Plus, there were so many volunteers who helped out in ways that I didn’t even manage to cover this year and Town employees and officials who went above and beyond their duties. You all deserve a big thank you.
I am worried that 2021 will start off very rocky, with a potential post-Christmas Covid surge in a few weeks. But with vaccines already rolling out, I’m hopeful that the year will improve as we go.
So, a big Happy New Year’s to all of my readers and the Southborough community.
A couple more to add to the list was the Drive-in movies from Recreation which were so much fun and of course the Virtual Gobble Wobble by Recreation and the Friends of Southborough Recreation.