A Year In The Life Of A Pandemic, Part 1
This is part one of a three part series. These pictures and the stories attached were put together to chronicle what my life has been like during the COVID pandemic, and the things I have tried to accomplish. This includes many but not all of the pictures I took for the local newspaper, as well as some that were not used.
March 10, 2020. The game was over; Vance Charter had won big and was looking forward to a shot at a state title. I turned to Wade Bliss and said “See you next week”, but next week never came. The season was over, defeated by a pandemic.
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March 22. I decided that one thing I could do for small businesses was make a store front album. I went all over town and took about 400 pictures that would be available for free downloads and used for whatever they wanted to use them for; hopefully advertising when this is all over.
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March 22. For awhile, the only store I went inside of was Sadie’s Coffee. Being outside taking pictures in the cold early morning created a need that Amanda’s coffee could quench.
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April 12. Abidan Shah of Clearview Church has already established ways to provide services, and that turned out to be important. The Easter service held on a beautiful farm was broadcast over the radio while a breathtaking view could still be enjoyed.
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April 24. Chick-Fil-A wasted no time being creative… they sent workers outside to take orders and keep two lines of drive through traffic going. The girl in the picture is Jillian Haith; she had stepped back and lowered her mask to catch her breath.
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May 5. It was only a few of us who understood the traumatic effect the virus had on high school seniors. Kim Simmons is one of the few, and she did her part to help make it bearable to some Vance County High seniors.
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May 7. A group of people gathered at the court house to have an Essential Workers Appreciation parade. The last stop was Maria Parham Medical Center, where several workers were able to come outside and show their appreciation in return.
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May 17. Churches were closed, but most of them found a way to keep going. At The Salvation Army, Capt. Derrick Smith was one of many local pastors to hold services in the parking lot while worshipers remained in their vehicle.
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May 25. I was honored to take part in providing the Vance High art class with pictures and memories for them to make a mural by. They did a spectacular job, but couldn’t quite finish because of the pandemic. Their dedicated teacher Amy Simpson made sure the mural was completed.
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Memorial Day observances are a long standing tradition at Rock Bridge Cemetery, where at least 18 veterans are buried. Billy Davidson is pictured placing a flag at one of the headstones.
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May 26. Almost every local photographer has been sent to Nutbush Bridge to photograph the high water. This year was my turn.
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May 31. The rumor on Facebook was that violence had broken out downtown, but I was sitting downtown. The real story was that riders at Dark Side Motorcyle Club were handing out bottles of water to people who came to protest police brutality. The peaceful event should have been the example for other cities to follow.
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June 4. One of many food distributions over the summer was this one at The Salvation Army. Shadiya Solomon is a full time employee of the local corp and plays a pivitol role of the success of the events whose rules have been greatly relaxed during the time of emergency needs.
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June 6. Much to the delight of hundreds of girls, volleyball did not disappear for the summer. Remington Doggett of Cardinal Gibbons and Maci Taylor of Wake Forest High were one of the teams at Sinjin Beach Volleyball complex in Wake County.
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June 7. One week after a peaceful march which through downtown, a second larger group marched on Chestnut Street, posing for this media picture on the court house steps.
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June 13. A second trip to Sinjin Park provided me with a glimpse of another volleyball player. Brianna is actually one of the summer’s best stories (of the ones I’ve written). Her imput has been a substantial part of some blogs I wrote about the effect of COVID on student athletes, and how they see the pandemic.
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June 17. I got this picture on a tip from my friend Cara Gill. What looks like a pond is actually a creek which has escaped it’s banks and covered part of a fence. While I was there, water also made it’s first stream over the road bridge. Fortunately, this was the end of the storm and the road never closed.
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June 30. This was the end of the road for Centura Bank’s Dabney Drive location. It was removed to make way for Popeye’s Chicken.
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July 1. Rachel and Kezia Iqbal were two of the participants at the annual Clearview Games at Clearview Church. But it seemed much of their attention was on baby Shiloh. This is an alternate picture from the one used in the newspaper.
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July 17. On a call to take a picture in Williamsboro, I noticed workers giving St. Johns Church a makeover. A foreman showed me around and explained the process, which took several months to complete.
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July 21. Schools had graduation in various ways. At Vance Charter, each senior and their family had an individual ceremony. My contribution was to take pictures for them outside. This graduate in the picture is my friend Jenna Radford.
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July 21. I’ve been told this picture is stunning. The reason is because the girl is stunning. With a wrong camera, I had messed up countless pictures of Lana Horton during the ball games, but she never complained and when she saw me at graduation, she still stopped for a picture. Under my breath I said “Dear Lord, let this one come out right”. And it did.
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July 24. Another place that found a way to operate was Richard Thornton Library. At this point, they had a table set up outside for patrons to return books.
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July 31. Sandy Smith was the keynote speaker at the grand opening ceremonies for the Vance County GOP Headquarters.
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Aug 4. This picture was taken at a home on Nelson Street during the remnants of Hurricane Isais. Although the house suffered a lot of damage, the storm did far less damage in the area than many expected.
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Aug 5. This headstone was found on a local farm by workers who were re-digging a pond. Mark Pace and I did some research and discovered the stone was over 100 years old and missing from Elmwood Cemetery. This picture was taken after it was returned to the city.
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Aug 7. I was able to get a lot of good pictures from Vacation Bible School at Clearview. This one is my favorte, but it had little or nothing to do with VBS. The girl, who was a volunteer, was literally fending off 3 boys with a water pistol. You go, girl.
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Aug 8. At the Help Center on Raleigh Road, a group of volunteers met to serve lunch plates to all first responders in the area.
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Aug 19. If I had to select a favorite politician of current times, it would be Mark Robinson. This was during his campaign stop in Henderson weeks before being elected Lt. Governor of NC.
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Aug 19. This was a charity event held at Vance Granville Community College in which school supplies were given away to families in need.
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Aug 26. This was not a picture I expected to be in the newspaper, but it was. These workers spent several days at a home in Old West End.
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Aug 26. I had never visited the Confederate Cemetery in Kittrell, and it wasn’t what I expected. I’m not sure what I did expect, but it was a fascinating history lesson to see the route so many unknown soldiers made from the hospital to the burial site which conveniantly sat by the railroad.
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Aug 28. Another charity I was able see up close (and help with) was the annual spaghetti dinner to support Colten’s Adventure. In the picture, Kendall Allen helps her aunt Jessica pack plates to be delivered. Money raised was used toward medical expenses for 3 year old Colten Madddox.
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Sept 4. Another creative way to stay open was spotted at Cookout in Oxford. They converted one of the restaurant windows into a walk up window.
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Sept 4. Jer-Mya has been a part of my life through this pandemic. She has also helped me get food boxes delivered to elderly and disabled citizens.
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Sept 6. You should always avoid family when taking pictures for a newspaper, but anyone who knows me knows that I’ll eventually break that rule with Victoria.
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Sept 11. One of Henderson’s most dedicated people through this pandemic has been Melissa Elliott. I took this picture as she was setting up in her office for a zoom interview with a national magazine.
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Sept 12. Henderson Collegiate was not able to play for the state chapionship in basketball, but they still got their ring after being crowned state 1A co-champions. This was the ring ceremony moments after all the players were told to open their box.
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Sept 14. Many of us wondered if it would happen, but the private schools did open for athletics. Public schools would have to wait two more months.
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Sept 15. State and federal officials visited Henderson Collegiate School. The newspaper did not use this picture, but they did use another I took that day.
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Sept 19. My friend April Partin organized a charity bike ride to raise money and awareness to combat suicide. Several riders, including a national group, took part in the ride. April is the passenger on this bike.
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Sept 21. I was asked to go to this cross country event under mysterious circumstances. But it didn’t matter; I thrive on photographing the kids who don’t get the attention they deserve. This picture of star runner Ella Cate Johnson was pivotal in my being able to form a working relationship with Kerr Vance Acedemy.
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Sept 23. Pictures like this one, taken to promote the Vance Charter FFA, are supposed to be the bridge that allows me to do sports blogs. After all, these are students and academics should be the priority.
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Sept 28. When I went in the office to get permission to take pictures at the school bus garage, I met a Facebok friend in person. I also embarrassed myself… I didn’t have a memory card in the camera so I took the pictures, went home, then come back and took them again.
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Sept 30. This was from the first set of tennis pictures I had taken since many years before Leah Moseley was even born. Hopefully, there will be many more. Leah is a good person to photograph. She and the other students, the staff, the administration and the parents at KVA have made me feel very welcome at their school.
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Oct 3. I don’t recall the specifics, but when I saw workers at Skateeum I stopped to see if there was a picture to be taken. It was then I learned that the skating rink would not re-open and everything was for sale. I didn’t buy anything, but I sold about $1000 worth for them.
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And that’s it for part one. This is a three part series and the other two parts will be posted soon. Hopefully, these pictures will combine to tell a story that I want to tell… a story of the choices I made over the past year, and the sometimes disturbing results that followed.
