Outer Banks life in a time of national crisis.
We’re all in this together. That’s something that is becoming more apparent every day in the restaurants and bars that are closed, their staffs sent home; the list of events that have been canceled—events that are so much a part of our lives.
Kelly’s St. Patrick’s Day parade was cancelled. It would have been the 31st annual parade. Never been cancelled or postponed. At 1:00 p.m. it began 30 times in a row…rain, sunshine, even snow flurries, it has been a part of who and what we are on the Outer Banks.
But not this year.
Coming up at the end of this month, we should have had the 11th Annual Taste of the Beach, an amazing celebration of the area, as much a tribute to the skill and creativity of our local chefs as it is a tour of the Outer Banks. For 10 years, it has been a part of our lives.
But not this year.
They closed the schools on Monday, and then closed the Outer Banks to all visitors on Tuesday.
It’s hard to say which is more upsetting.
In many ways, closing the Outer Banks to permanent residents, employees of local businesses and property owners. It is, after all, who and what we are and how almost all of us who live here earn a living.
Yet closing the schools has made everything so real because schools represent so much of how we think about our communities.
We may complain about what the kids are learning, or how they’re learning, or maybe believe that when we were in school the education we received was better than theirs. But for all our complaining—and there is a lot of it no matter where you are—we see our schools as the greatest hope for our children, the one best way for them to achieve much more than we ever have.
And the schools are closed. The hallways empty and silent. No children at their seats and desks.
The kids still have to go to school. Dare County, and every other school district in North Carolina, will have their teachers continuing to teach online, and the students will have to participate. But there are no school plays, no athletic events; so few of the things that make our schools such a vital part of our communities.
Schools represent more than just the centerpiece of our communities, though. For many of our students, it’s two nourishing meals a day—sometimes the only healthy meals they will get.
During this time of crisis, Dare County Schools has announced that they will feed any Dare County child between the ages of 0-18 at a number of pickup and go sites throughout the county.
That is a remarkable tribute to the leadership of Dare County Schools, and speaks volumes about how important our schools are to so many families.
Kids being kids, though, they will complain about having to go to school even online. Because since time immemorial that’s what kids have done, complain about going to school.
And maybe we should take solace in that, take comfort in the knowledge that there are these certain sure things in life. Kids complain about school; we did when we were their age. Our parents no doubt felt the same way.
Perhaps in that complaint is a message that we should remember—that times marches on and that we somehow always find our way.
We don’t know how long this will last; have know way of knowing when the steps we are taking to weaken the spread of COVID-19 will become effective and the disease loosens its grip on us.
One thing in this is certain though. At some point, sooner hopefully rather than later, we will move beyond what we are going now through, and once again the bars and restaurants will reopen, summertime will call to us and the Outer Banks will still be here.
Editorial opinion by Kip Tabb