Judging by the stories we still tell about the Blizzard of ’78, New England prides itself on bearing up and hunkering down. However, the events of recent weeks are challenging even the hardiest, most independent among us to find new sources of strength and comfort. We here at Yankee hope this new weekly collection can help provide that to our audience, no matter where they live.
Pick-Me-Ups: News and Notes from the Yankee Community
When Vermont mural artist Kathryn Wiegers installed this tribute to frontline workers, daughter Emma, right, was on hand to help get the job done. Photo Credit : Kathryn Wiegers/Chaffee Art Center
Looking for a way to pay tribute to healthcare workers taking on the challenge of COVID-19, mural artist Kathryn Wiegers created and installed a “Rosie the Riveter”–inspired mural on the lawn of the Chaffee Art Center (where she is a juried artist member) in Rutland, VT.
In Providence, RI, the 19-year-old son of two ER doctors has hit on an ingenious way to help COVID-19 patients connect with loved ones: provide them with gently used iPhones and iPads to use for FaceTime, Zoom, messaging, and so forth. The result is the Covid Connectors initiative, a partnership with the Rhode Island Medical Society — and according to the Providence Journal, the donated tech has already been used to help in celebrating an anniversary celebration, meeting a new grandchild, and saying good-bye to a family member.
Huskies to the rescue! Musher Hannah Lucas has hit upon a creative way to deliver food and medicine to elderly residents in rural northern Maine who are staying at home due to the coronavirus crisis. Photo Credit : Photo courtesy of Hannah Lucas via Facebook
In snowy northern Maine, musher Hannah Lucas has organized an effort to deliver groceries and medicine to the elderly via dogsled. Lucas, who runs a sled dog team and kennel in Caribou, told Maine Public Radio: “I think about my grandparents who are in their 70s and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to anyone. So anything I can do to help, I will.”
An iconic New England food brand is coming through in the crunch. TheBoston Globe’s Billy Baker takes a behind-the-scenes look at Teddie Peanut Butter as the Everett, Massachusetts–based company works overtime to keep supermarket shelves stocked and its own employees safe.
Maine’s own Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, his collaborator on Gwendy’s Button Box, are giving away 200 of their novels to bookworms in need during the coronavirus crisis. King has anted up 100 copies of If It Bleeds, due out April 21, and Chizmar’s Cemetery Dance Publications is putting up titles including Gwendy’s Button Box, Gwendy’s Magic Feather, and The Long Way Home.
Than Moore, a physician’s assistant at UVM Medical Center in Burlington, VT, has founded Gowns4Good to repurpose commencement garb as medical gear. Photo Credit : Taran Catania/Gowns4Good
After learning some healthcare workers were so desperate for personal protective equipment (PPE) they were making gowns from trash bags, Nathaniel “Than” Moore saw an unusual solution: graduation gowns as makeshift PPE. As an emergency medicine physician’s assistant, he knew they weren’t perfect but their length, sleeves, and easy-zip access put them far above other options. Moore’s clearinghouse, Gowns4Good, is now collecting new and used gowns for distribution to medical facilities in need; as of April 13, nearly 1,000 gowns had been donated.
More good news for medical folks: Segway inventor Dean Kamen used his clout to secure more than 91,000 pounds of PPE from China for distribution in his home state of New Hampshire. Not only did he front the money for the estimated 7 million to 8 million pieces of PPE, but he also called on FedEx CEO Fred Smith to hustle it onto a plane and over to the U.S.
Among the heartfelt musical performances cropping up lately, here is one of our all-time favorites from New England. In it, the friends and neighbors of a Mass General nurse arrange for a sidewalk performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that brings her (and us) to tears.
Until Next Week…
We’ll be back next week with another care package of news and notes, so until then—
Take heart, be well, and happy reading.
Your friends at Yankee
