By the end of 2021 two years after SARS-Covid-2 was first identified and has marched relentlessly through the world it is pretty clear that all people must pull together to end this pandemic once and for all. To put it into prospective the latest variant Omicron was only identified worldwide twenty-three days ago. Last year a family in Glen Spey summed it up with the best holiday lawn sign ever-saying simply “Stink-Stank- Stunk and amen I say to that. My last column of the year always features a “year-end” question and because the Omicron variant is stalking us all now, the pandemic needed to be part of my question. The question is “what is the most important lesson you learned from living during the pandemic crisis”? For me, the lesson from the pandemic is to stay resilient, to not only keep up with the science out there but to follow the accepted protocols- so I have been vaccinated three times. As a small child I lived through the polio epidemic and my brother Fred got polio, and we were quarantined in our house and the Boston Health Department nailed huge quarantine signs on the trees all around us. Thanks to my mother’s fierce dedication to his full recovery my brother survived with no disability, and my family survived but it was sure scary and very tough on all of us.

I rang up my bestie the Raspberry Queen, Sandy Greig of Eldred, who is a farmer and the owner of The Farm in the Pines and Sandy’s Garden Pantry Foods with my question. She paused her tsunami of baking Christmas cookies and groaned a wee bit. Sandy told me that she wished she had a cheerful response but that what she actually learned is that it is important to try and wear a mask and social distance (her husband works in an eldercare community and is vaccinated and tested weekly) and people need to do a better job at respecting those who follow that protocol. “When I’m standing there socially distanced they run right up on me and it’s very annoying” she complained to me. Sandy also said that she found it interesting finding out about those who chose not to be vaccinated and to hear about their reasons.

Roswell Hamrick, the President of the Greater Barryville Chamber of Commerce, told me he felt it was the importance of community. “During this pandemic, our community displayed great strength and support. From shopping and sustaining local brick and mortar stores to attending our Farmers Market our community rose to keep businesses thriving. Even when tested with imposed isolation, our residents came out and participated in socially distant community events like the Barryville Christmas Tree Lighting. We volunteered and assisted our local people in need. Amid these trying times, I am proud to be part of our flourishing community.”

I was able to track down the Town of Highland’s popular Chief Constable Mike Walton about his thoughts about my year-end question. Mike told me that as a Police Officer the pandemic and its fallout has been “really tough because we like to be in charge and no way we can be with this pandemic. People become police officers because they want to help and protect people but with the pandemic it’s been very frustrating because there isn’t much we can do, and the pandemic has hit really hard-and what we deal with is the aftermath.” We continue to assist with any medical emergencies and do what we can to help Mike told me, and he expressed the hope that everyone is doing everything they can to avoid problems and stay safe.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a holiday filled with peace and joy.