Foothills Forum and the Rappahannock News look back on 2020 with a focus on COVID-19 as well as several key issues – schools, broadband and cellular, business, housing -- we have reported on throughout the year.

Through a unique partnership, the Rappahannock News and Foothills Forum provide expanded local coverage

‘Close to 80 inches of rain fell on Rappahannock in 2018 … almost double the annual average’

Working with numerous private and public stakeholders on these programs, plus COVID concerns, keeps me pretty busy. But I welcome the variability and the challenge.

The bad news: A portion of the Rush River that runs through the Rappahannock County Park had earned a failing grade for recreational use for having unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, which can lead to illness and infection in humans.

For the artist, tourist or weekender, the land needs to be a beautiful and evocative backdrop. Not so for most farmers and owners of substantial parcels. For them, the landscape is also an economic asset. It doesn’t only have to be protected; it also needs to generate income.

The fall has been good to many Rappahannock businesses, all things considered. The weather ushered in visitors eager to dine outside amid resplendent views of the changing leaves. And that made it easier for the county’s food and beverage establishments to make up revenue lost when operations closed or customers dwindled in the spring.

Foothills Forum and Rapp News will host a virtual discussion Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.

Ruth Welch: Vice President, Food Pantry; Board Member of the following: Rappahannock County Recreational Facilities Authority, Rapp at Home, and Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission’s Aging Advisory and Food Policy councils; member, Old Rag Master Naturalists; Rapp Kids Coalition; John Jackson Blues Festival committee; retired Army dietitian; lives with her husband, Bryant, in Castleton.

For decades, Rappahannock has been able to preserve its natural beauty and stunning views. But more challenges are on the horizon.

Some might think being a school bus driver is no big deal, but seeing those kids every day, watching them and their siblings grow up over the years, and supporting them in different ways is very rewarding.

‘Rising prices are almost inevitable given the desirable place we’ve created’

Any day things could change. That’s the reality. No matter how much planning and preparation has gone into making classroom learning possible, one outbreak could shut everything down again.

Faculty and students reflect on their COVID-19 journey and the challenges they face going back to school. 

COVID-19 has proven to be a huge challenge because we cannot get together with our young mentee and we have had to scale back in other areas of service as well.

In the first week of April, only six cases of COVID-19 were reported in Culpeper. By the last week of that month, the weekly count was 10 times higher.

Biggest Challenge: Clearly it is getting access to needed services for clients, particularly finding affordable or supported housing for seniors in Rappahannock.

Rappahannock Nature Camp is set to open for a limited season Aug. 3-7. Instead of its usual two-week sessions held in June and July, five half-day morning sessions will be held for campers eight to 16 years old at its campsite along the Hazel River.

Officials assume in-person classes will resume in August: ‘We need to work out a lot of details in a very short amount of time’

Remember the opioid crisis? Not long ago, it was an awful reality of modern rural life, a relentless calamity destroying lives and damaging families. It still is. Last year, Virginia had more fatal drug overdoses — 1,617 — than ever before.

Biggest Challenge: Many experts believe stresses caused by COVID-19 have triggered a shadow pandemic in mental health, especially in rural communities like Rappahannock. 

By necessity, doctors and therapists have had to switch to telehealth to treat patients during the COVID-19 lockdown. But it’s looking more and more likely that “distance medicine” is here to stay. 

Faced with a myriad of requirements to combat COVID-19, Rappahannock’s restaurants and wineries continue to move ahead under the first phase of “Forward Virginia,” the state’s plan to re-open the economy.

Country Café Pit Stop is “doing very well,” said Huff, who dealt with his share of financial hardship in the months prior to the pandemic.

The Rappahannock Food Pantry has seen an outpouring of support through donations of time, money and supplies since emergency measures to arrest the spread of COVID-19 took effect in March.

At this point, most Virginia universities say they still intend to welcome students back to campus in a few months, although that could change if there’s a rise in COVID-19 cases as businesses in the state reopen and social restrictions ease.

Traditional graduation ceremonies lost. Assemblies recognizing academic and athletic achievements canceled. Senior trip and prom scrubbed. Time honored rites of passage for Rappahannock students — spring commencement ceremonies and related functions — are falling victim to COVID-19. 

The county’s planners are learning to manage the unmanageable, as they put the final touches this week on a budget introduced in March and immediately upended by the worst pandemic to hit the United States in a century.

Parents now find themselves playing a new role as at-home teachers, juggling responsibilities between their work and schooling their children. Many others who have been furloughed or lost their jobs are trying to make ends meet, adding pressure.

When someone needs help, no matter how difficult, you figure out a way. It is that simple. Our mask-making started when a friend in home-health care told me her staff were at risk and she needed 400 masks. 

As coronavirus-imposed stay at home orders extend into their sixth week, stress is starting to mount on some caregivers. It’s a feeling in-home health workers know well. But private providers, already in demand, are further limited now as they try to scale back their number of clients to minimize the spread of any infections.

This past week, the school district sent an email to the parents of all of its students to gauge their interest in something called the Phone Pal Program, a new initiative meant to connect generations here during this time of stress and uncertainty.

Small businesses are seeking loans to buy time until they can resume normal operations.

Some Rappahannock businesses are starting to receive funds from loan programs put in place to ease damage inflicted by widespread measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to the county’s local banks.

The idea is that people who aren’t patronizing bars and restaurants can still be tipping their servers as they would on a normal night out. Participating businesses, which include Headmaster’s Pub, Griffin Tavern, Three Blacksmiths, Sperryville Trading and Little Washington Winery, say it’s a good way for the community to provide income to workers who may be struggling to pay bills and buy essential items.

“I worry about where our families are going to be when this does lift…after the utility bills and rent and mortgages all come due. We definitely need to start planning for that. That’s going to be a huge burden for some people.”

Businesses in much of Rappahannock have had to alter their operations over the past week under new orders from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam aimed at slowing the spread of Covid-19.

“We’ve seen how limited we are in our capacity to continue instruction through distance learning. It makes it very difficult because you have to be able to provide equity among all the students."