2020 in review: COVID-19 causes complications in Grafton

As 2020 finally draws to a close, there was only one story in contention for Grafton’s story of the year: COVID-19.

Mind you, there’s still a Top 10 list of Grafton stories that maybe still have a little bit of Covid in them (pandemics affect everything), but here’s a snapshot of how this moment in history affected those in town.

Let’s go back to March. Gov. Charlie Baker shut down schools across the state and, as parents tried to figure out this “Zoom” thing and how to access lessons on the computer, estimated it would last a total of three weeks.

Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings began to look more and more frazzled as it quickly became apparent that the three weeks of lesson plans cobbled together by the school department would need to stretch much further. 

Non-essential businesses shut down and, without that essential income, unemployment soared. Those still employed fought for computer time with their kids as work from home clashed with school from home.

Everyone hoarded toilet paper.

The cancellations piled up: the Grafton Gazebo Road Race was postponed, alongside the Boston Marathon. Swirls & Scoops, deemed non-essential, replaced its countdown clock with a sad emoji. The Easter Bunny gave up hiding eggs for a ride on a Grafton fire truck.

Grafton’s town election and Town Meeting were moved from May to late June. Grafton High School canceled prom but students held out hope for a later graduation ceremony. 

In April, Grafton reported its first Covid death. Eleven residents total would die of complications related to Covid.

In May, 81 employees of the Worcester WalMart tested positive for Covid, shutting down the busy store. Meanwhile, masks became mandatory while out in public, prompting local sewers to get to work.

There were bright spots. People turned out for birthday parades. Local artist Philip Marshall hung one of his sculptures, the virus-like “Dream Pod,” from a tree outside his North Street home. And to break the monotony and support local business, residents turned to takeout from Grafton restaurants, which were later able to include alcoholic drinks with their orders.

As the weather became warmer, many businesses re-opened and restaurants converted their parking lots into dining rooms (with tents, of course. Pandemic or not, Massachusetts still has unpredictable weather). Anything involving a crowd was still out — Silver Lake Beach remained closed for the summer, the Memorial Day Parade was canceled, and the usual volunteer army in the fields of the Community Harvest Project was extremely diminished.

June brought something new to Grafton High School — an outdoor Town Meeting on the football field, complete with Jumbotron, misting tents, frequently disinfected microphones, and even children allowed on the Town Meeting turf. How successful was it? It encored for the much-chillier fall Town Meeting in November.

Also making its football field debut: the GHS Class of 2020’s better-late-than-never graduation.

School returned in the fall using a hybrid model, with students alternating between classroom instruction and at-home classes from week to week. No Covid cases to date have been linked to in-school transmission.

As 2020 draws to a close, the pandemic has surged back nationwide and restrictions are increasing. In Massachusetts, Grafton is marked in high-risk red on the Covid map, with cases since March now numbering over 500. Hospitals, again, are filling with Covid cases.

But vaccinations have started with health care workers and 2021 brings the promise of Covid immunity. It’s going to take more than a flip of a calendar to eliminate a pandemic, but at least 2020 will be finished.