Board It Up’s Celeste Bevans leaves healthcare field during pandemic to pursue passion
Middletown Transcript
Celeste Bevans worked in the healthcare field for three decades, most recently working on the frontline of the pandemic in Philadelphia since March. But being on the frontlines made her rethink what she wanted to do with her life.
Feeling overwhelmed with the work she was doing, the Middletown resident decided to quit her career in June to pursue her passion of woodworking and open a small business.
“For me, it has been a blessing, being in the middle of all of that and jumping out with the leap of faith, I feel so much more successful now in business, than I did in 30 years of healthcare,” she said.
Volunteer Brewing filling time capsule with community stories of 2020
Middletown Transcript
From the COVID-19 pandemic to Tropical Storm Isaias, 2020 has taken a toll on Delawareans, but Volunteer Brewing Company wants to remember the good moments, too.
The Middletown brewery is asking community members to fill a time capsule with personal notes and mementos sharing their stories from 2020, in which Volunteer Brewing will keep in its newly finished tap house.
“This has been an unforgettable year for everybody, those in small businesses, hospitality and healthcare in particular,” Dawn Schatz, owner of Volunteer Brewing, said. “We just thought, well it has been a difficult year for many people, definitely memorable if nothing else, so let s gather MOT mementos or notes, or whatever they want to include.”
Center for the Creative Arts hopes to welcome people back in person next year
Middletown Transcript
The slogan at the Center for Creative Arts is Yorklyn is “Gather, connect and create,” and Melissa Paolercio is hoping to do that again in 2021.
Like many organizations and businesses, the center has to change and adapt to the restrictions caused by the pandemic, adding online classes and virtual learning pods to still serve the community.
“We are looking forward to hopefully getting back to a little bit of normal in 2021,” Paolercio said. “We learned a lot about our community through that time, those programs. We are hoping to take some of those things we have learned and incorporate them when we bust the doors back open in 2021.”
Historic Odessa is hoping for financial recovery in 2021
Middletown Transcript
Indoor tours of the historic homes were halted, education programming was canceled and no lectures were held after the pandemic hit in March, causing financial strain on the Historic Odessa Foundation.
Executive director Debbie Buckson is hoping for a complete recovery in 2021.
“We are looking for normalcy in 2021. We are looking forward to reopening the museum and welcoming the public back. We want to be able to share these beautiful properties with our community again,” she said. “It has been a very difficult year for us financially, so we are looking forward with high hopes for a really terrific 2021.”
Everett Theatre hopes to improve engagement with community in 2021
Middletown Transcript
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Everett Theatre to close its doors to live shows in 2020, which are a primary source of revenue. The historic theater has shown movies in a socially distanced and safe way throughout the year, but it couldn’t fully make up for the loss of the live performances.
Lee Edgar, president of Everett Theatre’s Board of Directors, said they rely heavily on the volunteers and financial supporters from the community to help keep the theater running. The pandemic has made them realize they haven t been great at keeping in touch with those who support the theater.