COVID Concerts-

Coping with streaming concerts in the lockdown era

The Merced Symphony Association posted a holiday concert to YouTube in late December. Portions of the concert, including this scene pictured, originated from the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland. Photo: Merced Symphony Association.

My wife and I were not big concert goers.

If we got out to an occasional Playhouse Merced community theater production or even a rare music performance at the Gallo Center in Modesto we consider ourselves lucky.

Like many people before March 2020, we took a lot of things for granted.

COVID 19 changed all that.

The virus altered everything. Face masks, social distancing, hand sanitizer, health department guidelines, vaccine wait lists, and the list goes on.

Add enjoying live music to that list.

I don’t mean the YouTube videos and Facebook concerts we’ve been seeing. They are fine, but nothing will replace being in the concert space as the music happens.

The Grand Ole Opry was the first to engage fans with live streaming concerts at the start of the COVID lockdown. Live weekly concerts have been streamed on Facebook since the start of the lockdown. Photo: Grand Ole Opry

In Nashville, Tennessee, the country music showcase Grand Ole Opry started streaming one-hour weekly concerts as soon as the crisis started in March 2020.

The shows were presented with the blessing of the local health department and that included no in-person audience at first as well as other COVID protocols.

The Opry prides itself on holding consecutive weekly shows since 1925. The Opry had a tradition to keep up. The weekly concerts have been broadcast on radio station WSM every week for ninety-five years.

The group Ellas will be performing live via live stream on January 29 as part of the UC Merced upSTART series.

Besides helping us remain safe by keeping us away from public venues, the move to streaming performances has provided other benefits.

Shows on social media sites allow viewers to comment as the performance takes place; providing instant feedback and a sense of shared experience.

Being able to pause to tend to an interruption is nice. There’s no need to dress up for the show. There’s also no chance of being annoyed by a rude attendee who either talks, texts, or gets up from their seat during the performance.

But I’m willing to accept some of those annoyances in exchange for having live music where I can be part of the audience in person.

It may take a little while longer for those days to return, but we are patient.

Once live in-person performances resume, I promise myself never to take them for granted.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His new book Can Do Californians is available at barnesandnoble.com and at lulu.com

A Museum with a Sense of Humor-

My return visit to the Merced County Courthouse Museum

One of the displays at the Merced County Courthouse Museum “Beyond Appearance: Portraits of Merced County Women” exhibit shows two mannequins dressed in period costume, and wearing face masks. Photo: Steve Newvine

There’s a lot we can say about the mid-June reopening of the Merced County Courthouse Museum.

Closed for three months due to the COVID crisis, the doors swung open June seventeenth to pick up where the Merced County Historical Society left off.

By the looks of a display of two mannequins dressed in period costume, with the inclusion of modern-day face masks, it’s clear the Museum and the volunteers have a good sense of humor.

County Historian Sarah Lim was permitted to reopen the Museum as part of the public health structure for ushering business and non-profits back into operation.

The Museum was in the middle of the first exhibit of 2020, “Beyond Appearance: Portraits of Merced County Women” when it closed down due to the COVID outbreak. Photo: Steve Newvine

With most of the restrictions lifted, and new health and safety protocols in place, the Museum is getting back to business in pursuing the mission to preserve local history and educate the community on the past.

The women’s exhibit had just launched in the first quarter of 2020 and never really got a chance to be seen by many in the community. That’s all changed now.

This photograph is among dozens from the Museum archive that are on display in the exhibit “Beyond Appearance: Portraits of Merced County Women” underway until September 20. Photo: Steve Newvine.

The Museum is one of those attractions that could be taken for granted. With limited hours of operation, a reliable core of volunteers, and a presence in an iconic building, it might be easy to just pass by without thinking of the on-going work of the Historical Society.

But when access to this community asset was taken away due to the health restrictions brought on by the coronavirus, many may have lost a connection to this repository of local history.

My wife and I took in a tour shortly after reading about the reopening on MercedCountyEvents.com.

The Merced County Women exhibit is thought provoking.

With sections on agriculture, equal rights, and the role of women as consumers, there is a lot to see and read.

I spoke to the membership of the Merced County Historical Society in February. To give that talk today, I would be governed by the rules of social distancing. Photo: Sarah Lim, Merced County Historian

I was the Museum’s keynote speaker for the annual meeting held in early February.

I remember a nearly filled County Board of Supervisors meeting room followed by a potluck style reception.

It’s amazing how a few months living in the COVID era has changed things.

The courtroom exhibit, part of the permanent collection at the Merced County Courthouse Museum. Photo: Steve Newvine

The permanent exhibit continues to impress me.

On the third floor, the courtroom exhibit remains as a long-standing reminder of the importance of our judicial system. The visitor can take a seat and take in the ambience of a real courtroom.

The school exhibit harkens back to the days of one-room schoolhouses. The visitor is taken back to a time when school was in session.

The old time kitchen and housekeeping exhibit brings back memories, or at least recollections my grandparents shared with me when I was a child.

The kitchen display at the Merced County Courthouse Museum. Photo: Steve Newvine

On the main floor, there are many exhibits in the different rooms worth viewing a second time.

My favorite this time around was an old fashioned phone booth in the main hall.
There’s a Superman costume hanging up inside the booth.

Once again, here’s a museum with a sense of humor.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

You can reach him at SteveNewvine@sbcglobal.net.

His book Course Corrections is available on Lulu.com

The Merced County Courthouse Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 1 pm to 4 pm. COVID restrictions apply. (209) 723-2401, www.mercedmuseum.org

Welcome Back Customers-

Some Stores Try Soft Opening Post COVID

The entryway to the Helen & Louise clothing store at 1804 Canal Street in Merced is decorated in a big way as the shop welcomes visitors back inside following the COVID restrictions. Photo-Steve Newvine

If celebrating is worth doing, often times it’s worth overdoing.

Take for example the big display of balloons that cover the upper façade to the Helen and Louise clothing store in downtown Merced.

“It’s been a great day for us,” said Bree Migliazzo about the return of customer traffic inside the store at the corner of 18th Street and Canal Street.

Since the start of the COVID restrictions in March, Helen & Louise kept their business going with hope that the day would come when customers could come back inside and shop.

When that day finally arrived May 8th, they reopened with a big celebration.

“The outdoor design came from Collective Creations, a local company", Bree said. “ Another local business, Jen’s Cakes, prepared special treats to celebrate the occasion.”

Merced Antique Mall is one of several downtown Merced stores that reopened to indoor customer traffic as part of the relaxing of some of the COVID restrictions impacting retailers. Photo- Steve Newvine

There was optimism among the vendors at the Merced Antique Mall along Main Street as well.

“We’re going to try it, and we hope it pays off,” one of the vendors told me as we were greeted at the entrance.

What the Antique Mall and several other Main Street businesses are trying is part of a broader effort to get commercial activity restarted in the community.

The COVID restrictions closed businesses deemed non-essential by the State Health Department.

In accordance with Governor Newsom’s shelter in place executive order issued in March, Merced’s downtown was effectively closed for business.

“We used the time to deep clean the entire store footprint,” the manager at the Merced Antique Mall told me. “Most of the vendors are offering specials to help get merchandise moving.”

As of May 8, restaurants such as the Bella Luna on Main Street in Merced continue their take-out sales in hopes that they will soon be able to serve customers in their dining area. Photo- Steve Newvine

The sign in front of the Bella Luna restaurant has the same message seen since the start of the COVID restrictions. A customer can come inside to pick up an order.

The dining establishment, along with many other restaurants, is open but only for take-out.

It’s hoped the easing of restrictions on dining rooms will be the next step toward fully restoring area restaurants as comfortable gathering points for customers who work or shop downtown.

Customers wait until Wells Fargo personnel determine there is sufficient social distancing space inside the branch in downtown Merced. Photo- Steve Newvine

Institutions like the Wells Fargo branch on 18th street allowed customers inside with a staff person at the door to make sure social distancing rules were followed.

Banks have been opened throughout the restrictions, but with shoppers and others returning to downtown, the line at the local bank branch appeared to be much longer than in recent days.

A staff person at the bank noted that the longer line may have been more about the traditionally heavier traffic on Friday.

She says the bank is using the same protocols employed at the start of the crisis.

Customers can come inside, but social distancing is the norm with someone stationed at the entrance to allow just the right number of people inside at any time.

“Most of the traffic is done at the teller window,” the staff person told me. “But if a customer needs to meet with a banker, they must make an appointment.”

All around the community, we’re observing the first stages of the return to normalcy in retailing, the restaurant industry, and banking.

It’s been a rough two-month period for local companies.

Many are hoping customers haven’t forgotten them. Bree Migliazzo from Helen & Louise said it best when she described how it feels to have customers coming into the store once again.

“We’re welcoming them with open arms,” she said. “It’s great to have them back.”

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

His book Course Corrections- My Golf Truth, Fiction, and Philosophy, is available at Lulu.com

Passing Time in the COVID Era-

What I will not take for granted post “shelter-in-place”

A handwritten message at an area golf course offers a blunt take on social distancing. Photo: Steve Newvine

I don’t know about you, but this shelter in place stuff is growing weary.

I’ve had my fill of television ads telling us “we’re in this together”.

Grocery shopping is not just about getting what we need right away, but also about picking up things now that we might need in a few weeks because we can’t be certain of availability.

And, I need a haircut.

I’m taking advantage of the slow return to normalcy in the Central Valley. Some golf courses and public recreation sites are reopening with COVID distancing rules in place.

As I entered a store this week, I saw a sign on the door saying “no entry without a facemask”.

Gas prices continue to fall with some area stations selling regular for under $2 a gallon. But we’re not putting many miles on our cars with almost everything shutdown.

This time of shelter in place has been the right thing to do for public health. As we resume our regular activities in the coming weeks, I’m going to renew many of the activities I’ve taken for granted.

This includes:

• Going to the coffee shop with a friend for an hour of catching up and caffeine
• Returning to brick and mortar church services
• Making a haircut appointment.

A casual round of golf is one of many life experiences I will not take for granted when normalcy is restored in the post COVID era.

Here are some other activities that I will not take for granted once COVID is over:

Newspapers

I’m fortunate to have home delivery for a daily paper, mail delivery for another paper, and easy access to the weekly paper. It’s great to go to the driveway or go to the mailbox and pick up the news. While on-line access to local news is fine, the presence of a real paper newspaper is my preferred method of getting the news.

Golf and outdoor recreation

I’m glad some area courses are back in business. But it will all seem real when we can go to any of our local parks and see them full of activity.

Here’s a stack of books the folks living at my house have read over the past several weeks. Photo: Steve Newvine

Reading books

My pack-rat storing of books from the Friends of the Library shop, garage sales, and thrift stores created a good foundation for reading during shelter in place. We’re looking forward to the reopening of these sources of books, as well as the reopening of our local book stores.

I’m anxious for thrift store donation centers to reopen so we can give away our gently used books for resale.

Dental and optometrist appointments

These professionals had to end routine services during the crisis. We miss them, and remain mindful of how important they are to our overall health.

Phone calls, including video calls. Both incoming and outgoing checks from family and friends are appreciated all the way around. The practice should not have to stop when this is over.

Email and social media

When I say social media, I mean the good kind: pictures of family, friends, vacations, and even the exotic entrees some of our friends might order at restaurants.

Unfortunately, the angry political social media will continue.

Listening to music

My collection of compact discs continues to provide hours of entertainment, centeredness, and pleasure. There’s no danger that will stop, but I will always be grateful for the gift of music. Shopping in stores here in Merced County.

I miss my runs to the Mall, shopping plazas, and Main Street in Merced. I especially miss the Merced Antique Mall where I could always find something I didn’t realize I needed.

The cultural events that add some zing to our lives. I want to see the marquee at the Merced Theatre tell us about the next show coming to town.

I want to be in the audience for a performance from Playhouse Merced.
I want to have the dilemma of having to choose between a concert at Merced College and an event at UC Merced that might be taking place at the same time.

We want our regular lives back.

Here’s hoping we return to the new normal in Merced County real soon.

Steve Nervine lives in Merced.

His book Course Corrections is available on Lulu.com

Signs of the COVID Times

The marquee sign at Merced Mall reminds people that Big Lots and Target are open. Photo: Steve Newvine

How Merced is coping in the corona virus era

The marquee sign in front of Merced Mall has become a barometer of our community’s response to COVID.

Immediately after Governor Newsom imposed quarantine at home restrictions on March 19, the sign informed passersby that the Mall was closed.

It is a sign of the changing times in Merced.

A clerk at a neighboring store told me how he felt when he drove past the Mall with all the empty parking spaces.

“It’s eerie,” he said without breaking his smile. “I never thought I’d see a time like this.”

In the days since the restrictions were announced, the sign was changed to reflect that the nearby Target and Big Lot stores were open.

In the foreground heading East on Olive, the sign promoting the Mall expansion project remains.

Barriers have been placed at the parking lot entrances at St. Patrick’s Church in Merced. Photo: Steve Newvine

We’re now in the COVID era where church parking lots are empty, and lines form a half hour before some grocery stores open.

The churchgoers turn to televised services on line or on their televisions.

The shoppers are hoping to find TP, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and a myriad of food products that seem to disappear overnight.

Some call it the COVID era. Others call it the hoarding era.

A grocery store clerk lamented, “In the store I asked a man I know who is single why he needed two large packages of toilet paper. He just looked at me and said ‘Why should you care?”

Empty paper product shelves symbolize the state of flux in area retailing. Photo: Steve Newvine

On a lighter note, I recognized an acquaintance waiting in line at a store that opened early one weekday morning just for seniors.

He told me, “I feel as though I’m at my fiftieth high school reunion with all these familiar faces.”

We know this crisis will change the face of commerce in many ways. Restaurants are converting to take-out and delivery transactions as dining rooms are shut down.

The iconic Branding Iron sign waits for the day the popular steak house reopens. Photo: Steve Newvine

On Sixteenth Street, a familiar neon sign has gone dark. Merced’s Branding Iron sent a message on Facebook in late March saying they were shutting down until further notice.

The management thanked customers for their support in the post adding, “Alright, so we kept going as long as we could but the time has come now when we HAVE to shut down completely until further notice.”

While the primary shopping area is closed to shoppers, construction crews continue their work on the Merced Mall expansion. Photo: Steve Newvine

The signs we see, whether in front of the Mall, or taped to an empty store shelf, each share a part of the COVID story’s impact on our city. Some may offer a ray of hope for the future.

Construction continues on the Mall’s expansion project. The project remains on schedule.

We’ll know things are getting better when the marquee changes one more time at the Mall, and when the neon is blazing again at the Branding Iron.

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.

He has written Course Corrections, My Golf Truth, Fiction, and Philosophy. The book is available at Lulu.com