holiday

Wednesday March 17, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 17, 2021

For a second St. Patrick’s Day without parades, some places find other ways to celebrate

The pandemic in the United States, now more than a year old, is starting to hit some calendar milestones for a second time, including St. Patrick’s Day parades across the country. The sudden cancellation of the parades last year was one of the first big signs of how disruptive the pandemic would be to normal life in the U.S.

February 13, 2021

Though many states and cities have been tentatively loosening various Covid restrictions lately, most places have not cleared the way for a resumption of parades, which can be among the most ruthlessly effective kinds of super-spreading events.

So the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Chicago has been canceled, again; the parade in Boston canceled, again; the one in Philadelphia, canceled, again. The parade in New York City, intent on retaining its distinction as the oldest uninterrupted St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world, will once again be largely ceremonial and very low-profile, with a small group walking up Fifth Avenue at an unannounced time very early in the morning — that is, if the city and state approve doing anything at all.

February 9, 2021

Some places are putting a spin on the commemorations. The 37th annual parade in St. James, on Long Island, is now going to be held by car; the one in Hilton Head, S.C., is moving to the water; and the one in Pittsburgh is moving to the fall (maybe). A drive-in Celtic rock concert is planned in Dublin, Calif.; a virtual 5K run in Naperville, Ill.; and a day of green beer in plastic cups being delivered by masked servers between plexiglass screens at McGillin’s Olde Ale House in Philadelphia.

Last year, bars from Chicago to New Orleans were packed on the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day despite the cancellation of local parades, prompting stern admonitions from mayors and governors. This year, officials are pleading with people to stay at home, or at least to be vigilant when they are out.

Still, not everyone is resigned to laying low for another year.

In the town of Erin, Wis., population around 3,800, the short-notice cancellation of last year’s parade, the 40th, was a heartbreaker: Floats had already been prepared, and past parade kings and queens were scheduled to appear. This year, local officials and volunteers are determined to do everything they can to make a parade happen. (NYTimes) 

 

Saturday February 13, 2021

February 13, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 13, 2021

Lovers in dangerous times: Valentine’s Day winners, losers in pandemic

When it comes to romance in the age of the coronavirus, COVID-19 hasn’t entirely clobbered Cupid.

March 28, 2020

This Sunday will be the first Valentine’s Day since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic last March.

If you’re thinking of making the time-honoured romantic gesture of sending your beloved roses or a bouquet, you will have plenty of company.

“Since COVID, the flower industry has just gone through the ceiling,” said Sarah Watkin, a veteran of the floral industry who works at Jim Anderson Flowers.

While the retail side of flower shops has dried up, the delivery facet is blooming because the floral industry was already set up for pandemic conditions, even before the arrival of the coronavirus. “The flower business has always been very close to 70 per cent on the phone anyways,” she said.

“There’s been very little pivoting for the flower industry, let me tell you.”

Jackie Bell-Jones, who owns Burke Flowers, confirms it was “not a huge shift” to adapt her operation to the new reality. The majority of her business was already not done in person.

“Business is up (on the delivery side),” she said, although wedding orders have fallen off.

Watkin said over the years, her customers have had less need to make their orders at the counter.

Plus, competitors such as drug stores that stock a few flowers ahead of Feb. 14 don’t have the same delivery infrastructure as her shop. “This year, we don’t have them stealing our thunder,” she said.

November 28, 2020

If you are in the habit of wooing your love over a romantic meal on Valentine’s Day, you’ll have to supply the ambience yourself because restaurants haven’t been able to open their dining rooms. It will be Tuesday before the gradual reopening of the economy arrives in Middlesex-London and restaurant owners find out in which colour zone the city will be placed.

Tony Elenis, head of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, said Valentine’s Day — although not as important as Mother’s Day or Father’s Day for eateries — was still a big one in pre-pandemic times.

“Valentine’s Day is a busy day, absolutely,” he said. “Valentine’s is a day that restaurants are spotlighted.”

Marty Novak, marketing and communications manager for Palasad Social Bowl, said this year’s Valentine’s Day will be a “missed opportunity” for his facility that draws a lot of the first-date crowd and even prospective grooms proposing in the place’s escape rooms.

February 14, 2020

“We actually go all out for Valentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day is a fantastic day for us,” he said, but that won’t be the case this year, although staff are gearing up for the reopening a few days later.

“We would have gone completely all out for it” if restrictions had been lifted before Valentine’s Day, Novak said, with features such as live music.

Elenis points out you can still enjoy a romantic meal on Sunday — you’ll just have to have it delivered or pick it up yourself.

“It’s not even (just) the little guys. Even the big guys are hurting,” he said of the restaurant industry. (London Free Press) 

 

Saturday January 9, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday January 9, 2021

As airlines entice travellers, health expert says gov’t must enforce stronger travel rules

A Toronto-based health expert says the federal government should be doing more to crack down on non-essential travel as the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies in Canada.

June 27, 2020

“We’ve been relying mostly on the honour system. We just think, OK, we put out a recommendation, people will do the right thing,” said Dr. Lauren Lapointe-Shaw, a general internist at the University Health Network and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

“We know from every other area of life that that’s unfortunately not the case.” 

Several Canadian officials from across the political spectrum came under fire this week for travelling abroad during the pandemic, despite federal government warnings to avoid all non-essential travel. Their reasons for travelling ranged from visiting ailing relatives to vacationing in the Caribbean.

Air Canada is now facing backlash as well for launching an ad campaign that encourages Canadians to travel to vacation spots like Hawaii and the Caribbean, as long as the right hygiene protocols are enforced along the way. The Current reached out to Air Canada for comment, but did not receive a response.

Meanwhile, a new federal rule came into effect Thursday that requires all air travellers entering Canada to provide a negative COVID-19 test result before boarding a flight into the country.

This comes as COVID-19 cases continue to climb across the country. The COVID-19 case count in Ontario broke records again on Friday, while Manitoba extended its lockdown by another two weeks.

Lapointe-Shaw outlined a few other measures the government could take to ensure Canadians are following guidelines around travel. 

“As Canadians exit [the country], they’re not even asked to present the reason [for] their essential travel,” she told The Current’s Matt Galloway. “There isn’t even a form that asks you, you know, ‘What among these essential categories is your category?'”

Were the government to adopt such a practice, it could deter some people from leaving the country, because travellers would be “actively lying” if they didn’t fit into one of the essential travel categories listed on the form, she explained.

Requiring returning travellers to be supervised during self-isolation, and putting the administrative cost of running such a program on travellers’ backs, could also limit the number of people deciding to escape for leisure purposes, Lapointe-Shaw said.

She pointed to New Zealand as one country that’s already leading the way in enforcing travel measures.

Anyone entering the country needs to have a voucher to quarantine for two weeks in a managed self-isolation centre and provide a negative COVID-19 test result. It costs travellers thousands of dollars to stay in self-isolation there. 

“But furthermore, their recommendation is not, ‘Avoid non-essential travel,'” Lapointe-Shaw said. “It is, ‘Do not travel.’ So the wording is much more definitive.” (CBC)

 

Saturday April 11, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday April 11, 2020

Families celebrating Easter and Passover must get ‘creative’ amid pandemic

Coronavirus cartoons

Eating in front of a computer isn’t quite the same as feasting with family, but that is likely the reality for most celebrating Easter, Passover and other faith-based holidays as the COVID-19 pandemic has robbed people of the chance to gather.

Gatherings of more than five people are illegal.

Organizers of groups of more than five may be charged under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, which carries a fine starting at $750.

But the law won’t apply to households that have more than five residents.

It will force families to get creative.

April 19, 2003

“Many pastors have been able to provide streaming and online Masses and other adapted forms of prayer to support people’s personal prayers,” Monsignor Murray Kroetsch of Hamilton’s Roman Catholic Diocese said in a statement from the city.

Families can also have a virtual family dinner with others through programs like Skype or Zoom or host an online Easter egg hunt for children.

(Remember, Doug Ford did deem the Easter Bunny as an essential worker.)

“While the doors to our houses of worship may be closed, the gateways to both Heaven and our soul remain open. During these holidays, let our spirt soar with genuine connection,” Rabbi Daniel Green from the Adas Israel Congregation and Dean of the Hamilton Hebrew Academy, added. (CBC)