When 2020 came, the news cycle was slowing down with the holiday bustle and looking at the next 365 days – well, 366, since it was a leap year.
In those early months, stories about Bishop England’s male basketball team jumping to an 11-0 start or the perfect temperatures for winter fishing or pages of photos of community celebrations were part of the course.
The announcement that Kim Clijsters, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, would play the Volvo Car Open, signaling her return from retirement, left people looking forward to the 20th anniversary of the international tournament on Daniel Island.
At the inauguration of Charleston in January, DI resident Marie Delcioppo, the newly elected District 1 representative, swore an oath with Mayor John Techklenberg and other council members.
And people still gathered inside the home to support local charities, like ThROWdown 2020 for the Special Olympics.
At the time, the only group that decided to cancel their meetings was Daniel Island’s oldest social club, “Thank God, it’s the first Friday”, which decided to split up after almost 22 years. And the only thing that seemed to concern residents about safety was the report of an increase in coyote activity on Daniel Island. The projects were underway with the construction and inauguration of Orla and the Catholic Church Santa Clara de Assis.
Then COVID-19 came and the world changed. One of the first major cancellations was the Volvo Car Open. In mid-March, requests to stay at home had many businesses closed, schools closed and learning changed online and only essential workers at work.
Supermarket shelves were left without hand sanitizer and toilet paper.
But the community did not budge. Restaurants found ways to offer take-out food behind closed doors. Retail stores have created online and delivery options. Children were not the only ones to learn online, with yoga instruction becoming virtual and office workers becoming home office workers. Distilleries prepared hand sanitizers and people were given creative sewing masks for medical professionals and the public. The churches found new ways to worship.
And even people with more technological challenges have learned about Zoom.
While everyone prepared for the long journey and gathered to help their neighbors, no one expected the pandemic to be the central focus for more than nine months – changing the way we vote, celebrate and live day to day.
But social detachment was not the only social norm questioned in 2020. The discussion of social justice and police reform has grown as much as the numbers on COVID’s national map. After George Floyd’s death at the hands of police on May 25 in Minneapolis, protesters took to the streets across the country to take a stand. The marches sometimes became violent and destructive. But most protests, like the walks on Daniel Island, brought solidarity groups together and brought down a statue of the Confederates
in Marion Square.
There were good things to come out of 2020. Our frontline employees – health professionals, teachers, service providers – were recognized for the important work they do. Thousands of homeless animals have found homes forever – the result of a pandemic pet adoption frenzy. In the area of DI, the real estate market experienced perhaps the most phenomenal year on record.
While the numbers in South Carolina are still impressive – 275,285 confirmed cases on December 28, with 4,782 deaths – with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines being distributed, and two more on the horizon, we can begin to imagine a brighter 2021.
The 2021 touch will not bring an immediate end to the difficulties of 2020. The recovery will have a long way to go. But the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight.