A VIRUS JOURNAL April 15
A COMMUNITY'S THOUGHTS - CONCORDIA, KS
The Blade-Empire is publishing this community journal as an ongoing record of the thoughts of our citizens as we embark on this journey through the coronavirus crisis.
Tell us what you think; your thoughts, fears and hopes for yourself, loved ones, and your fellow Americans. You may use your name; or you may submit anonymously.
When the pandemic is over, the Blade-Empire will publish the journal as a book. The thoughts of Concordians will become a time capsule and historical record for future generations to remember.
CORONAVIRUS TOLL
Worldwide: Infected-2,235,919 Deaths-129,033
Kansas: Infected-1,446 Deaths-69
Cloud County: Infected-3 Recovered-2
A 92-year-old grandma from Belleville: The idea of sharing your feelings and experiences of this virus is a good idea. We are living history and pray that never again in the years to come will it be repeated. I am of the age that as a child we went through the dust bowl. We looked back at that and although this is so much more worse we will look at this as an experience of fear, loneliness, and know the Lord will bring us through. Some of our loved ones will be absent.
Take time to kneel before you go to bed and trust the Lord to take care of it. He's big enough to get it under control. Reach out to someone alone and lonesome and he's in charge.
Dominic Chaput, CHS student, Class of 2020: When I first heard about the COVID-19 virus, I thought it was going to be another bogus scare like with ebola. It was when the college went on an extended spring break for a week that got me thinking. At first, everyone joked about it. There were jokes about comparisons between this new virus and this mobile game called Plague Incorporated, jokes that mentioned places were being closed down, and even jokes about this year’s seniors having to graduate online. I thought they were funny until it was announced that prom was being canceled, school was going to close, and graduation would be set back or whatever. I was disappointed to say the least. I was looking forward to prom, graduation, and just the rest of my senior year. I didn’t realize how much school, the teachers, and the people I shared classes with meant to me until I came to the conclusion that I may have already seen the last of all of them. I was disappointed about more than that, however. I was disappointed that we would have to do online schooling since I don’t have a reliable source of internet. Working online is difficult, I don’t have my teachers there with me to keep me on track when I drift away from the work we are given. I had a pottery class and my first project took me an entire quarter to work on, and I still never finished it. I may never get the opportunity to finish it. I know I speak for every senior when I say we all have been dealt a crappy hand this year. Hopefully, it will all work out and we can still carry on with our lives. At least now we have something to tell our children and grandchildren.
Chuck Lambertz, city commissioner and therapist: I watched a presentation earlier this year of a man more intelligent than I speak on the geopolitical impact of the last 50 years of American dominance and manipulation in the world theatre to fight communism and to secure our energy supply say that as Americans, we have a remarkable ability to mobilize and respond when the light of our nation is darkened by an existential threat. He identified a small handful of significant events which sparked just such a response; the last of which was 9/11. He said when America gets spooked, we respond with a fervor and zealousness that makes us proud to be Americans. He said we hadn’t been spooked in a while.
I’d say we’re all spooked now and it will be fascinating to see how we respond. We’re ramping up diy masks, manufacturers are finding ways to supply face masks, ventilators and other such necessary medical supplies to aid in our effort to fight this.
As Easter approaches we’re reminded of the miracle of our salvation through the promise of life eternal after our mortal passing, we are now being encouraged to wear masks out in public for what was once all too easily dismissed as something barely worth being concerned of and were told there would be a ‘miracle’ and this would all just disappear just in time for everything to open back up for the Easter Holiday. It would be beautiful we were told.
I’m never one to dismiss the potential for a miracle, and God knows I’m praying for it, but with current models suggesting the ‘peak’ in Kansas won’t be until the later April, it's important to plan for a longer haul and a deeper impact on our physical, emotional and economic well-being than anything we were really prepared for.
Please. Take this seriously. Wash your hands. Maintain social distancing guidelines. Help flatten the curve. The life you save may not be your own.
Maddie Blochlinger, CHS student: The coronavirus is so severe people are being told to stay home. This is a great time to connect with your family. Although teenaged kids like myself aren’t too happy about the quarantine, everyone should take this virus seriously, stay home and connect with your loved ones.
I hope that everyone takes time to thank the people who are still working whether that be from home or at their job. Many can’t stay at home like doctors, nurses, police officers, grocery store workers, and many more. From me and the journalism staff, we say thank you for staying home and thank you to the ones who can’t.
Piper Ferrell, 4th grade student: Overall, online schooling is efficient, but there are some pros and cons. Something good is that teachers are getting in touch with their students or at least fourth grade teachers are. But on the video chats kids can get very very obnoxious. Things like playing odd songs, yelling, and even playing on other devices ( Ipads, Iphones tablets etc) and trying to be "cool". Unfortunately this happens a lot. But a pro is that you can work on your own and you don't have specific time frames ( ex. Math time at physical school would be 10:00 to 11:30 while as online schooling you have all day to get it done.) A con is that at physical school you would take it one day at a time while at online school you have like 5 days of work due that day if you procrastinate. At online school you don't have to get up at 7:30 to get to school on time. But teachers do have specific office hours where you can chat with them and ask questions. I enjoy the websites they assign like Epic or Readworks. But the best part is our math teacher Mr. Brown made a game yesterday for the kids who logged on ( me and another kid) and we had a blast on Kahoot. So overall, online schooling is efficient and fun.
Loretta: Hello Concordia we are writing our pros and cons of the coronavirus. One pro: more family time. Two: seeing the community come together in a different way such as the cruz main; what fun that was! Three: life does still goes on even if it's through a computer such as church and school. Four: enjoy more outdoor time such as riding my bike, playing basketball with my brother - of course he wins, and walking the dogs. The cons: not being able to socialize with friends, such as hanging out with friends and wandering around Walmart for no apparent reason just to have something to do; two: seeing more restrictions being placed on us such as now we can't even get a fountain drink at our favorite watering hole. I know it's for our own good but it still sucks. Three: It may sound weird but I actually miss waking up and going to a real school building. Four; not knowing, and the uncertainty that it brings for many. I know Concordia is small but we are MIGHTY! - and we will get through to the other side, whenever that may be. It will come, and we all will cruz main when it does, loud and proud!
A Cloud County farmer: With the past few years of terrible prices in the Ag industry, how much of this can we tolerate? I know everyone is struggling right now; it's affecting everyone, not just the farmer/rancher. There are plenty of small businesses that this could very well bankrupt. I do want to give huge accolades to anyone in the medical field right now.
Please email your thoughts to russell@nckcn.com. In the Subject Line type "Journal Entry'
Or you may write down your thoughts and mail them to:
Blade-Empire\Journal Entry
510 Washington Street
Concordia, KS 66901
Please email photographs of you, your family and friends coping with the crisis. Humor is always appreciated. Email the photos to russell@nckcn.com