Well – what to lead with? Because 2020 was the year that was!

The exploding COVID/coronavirus pandemic led to widespread closings in March, and we’re still noplace near back to normal. The stock market went on a rollercoaster, the economy is staggering, many families are becoming desperate, businesses have closed, churches and summer camps stood empty, tourism tanked, kids are out of school, millions have been sick, and a third of a million have died, despite Donald Trump’s insistence that it’s all just exaggerated to make him look bad, and will go away soon “like a miracle.” (How did he wind up in the hospital, then?) As year ends, the first vaccines are arriving, but cases still rise dramatically. Corning Inc. is manufacturing the Valor Glass vials to store the vaccines.

Libraries shut down in March. Most reopened on a limited basis in July or August, though Hornell had to remain closed until December. Hornell and Corning libraries both took advantage of the “Pause” to have major work done.

Allegedly inspired by Trump, right-wing terrorists allegedly plotted to seize the governor of Wisconsin, making her their first victim for televised mass murder. They were arrested before they struck.

Protected by his party’s senators, Trump easily survived his impeachment trial only to be cast aside by the voters, who had, after all, already rejected him four years earlier. Since then he’s been screeching about a steal, just as he did when Ted Cruz beat him in the Iowa caucus five years ago. Uncharismatic Joe Biden got more votes than any other candidate in our history, flipped five states, and has been hard at work setting up an administration, despite what looks like a bizarre slow-motion coup attempt that’s still struggling along.

Revulsion following a series of police killings reinvigorated and broadened the “Black Lives Matter” movement, as millions of all races demand better policing and greater accountability, as part of a growing enthusiasm for a trans-racial America.

The worst Atlantic hurricane season ever recorded killed thousands of people and annihilated millions of dollars.

Locally, tourism had a terrible year. Several Chemung County churches sparked COVID outbreaks that have killed several people, and made many sick. Despite such examples, the U. S. Supreme Court limited the state’s authority to demand public health procedures from religious congregations.

On April 2 Steuben County’s first coronavirus death, a woman from Bath, was announced. The largest block of deaths has been among nursing homes, mostly in the Hornell, Bath, or Corning areas. The 139th death, an Arkport man, was announced on December 30. The first confirmed case was announced on March 18. The December 31 report showed a yearly total of 3493, with December having been the worst month. Chemung showed 65 deaths, 4500 cases for the year; Schuyler 10 and 531; Yates 10 and 583; Tompkins 14 and 2031. The far more populous Broome County had 176 deaths and 7959 cases.

Pierri’s Central Restaurant closed in Painted Post. Salvation Army stores closed in Bath and Corning, and Pizza Huts throughout the region. Silliman’s barber shop in Bath reopened under new name and ownership, while Joint Venture Antiques closed in Savona. Five Star Bank closed its branches in Avoca and in downtown Bath, consolidating them into the Bath West End branch. Steuben Trust merged with Community Bank. The Heights Theatre has been gifted to a local church.

St. James Mercy Center, now part of the University of Rochester Medical Center, moved from its home of over a century to new construction in North Hornell.

Five people, including a Steuben County legislator, were arrested and accused in connection with a sex-trafficking ring.

Out in the world as a whole, we bade farewell to performers Kirk Douglas, Max von Sydow, Kenny Rogers, Little Richard, Olivia de Havilland, Dawn Wells, Sean Connery, and Diana Rigg; judicial giant Ruth Bader Ginsburg; baseball greats Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, and Whitey Ford; writers Clive Cussler, John le Carré, and Mary Higgins Clark; French president Giscard d’Estaing; star aviator Chuck Yeager; science-fiction titans Ben Bova and Mike Resnick; and beloved answer man Alex Trebek.

Which brings us to our saddest passage of this and EVERY year. Here at home we lost community activists Rosalie Niemczyk and Carol Reynolds; businesswoman Helen Joint; Curtiss Museum volunteer Lois Stempfle McHenry (daughter of revered County Agent Bill Stempfle); business and governmental leader Amo Houghton; local-history leaders Jerry Wright (who also had a long Glass Works career), Garth Murray, and Roger Grigsby (also a noted educator); and agricultural and community leaders Levi Weaver and Bill Brundage. Such losses are normal in the course of a year, and in the course of our lives. But they each leave a space that can never be filled. Safe journey, old friends. Thanks for helping us along our way.