Pulling Together

Down River concurs with the Clinton County Commissioners who at their work session this week applauded the perseverance of county residents in doing what we all can to minimize the incursion of the coronavirus into our county.

Board chairman Miles Kessinger acknowledged what we all anticipate to be true: it is just a matter of time until Clinton County has its first confirmed case of the virus. But one senses a collective community willingness to follow the federal CDC recommended safeguards will help mitigate the number of cases showing up in the county.

As Jeff Snyder said, “We’ll all get through this together.” Yes, we will. At what cost is the unanswered question at this time, the cost in illness, the cost in death, of job and business loss, of mental well being and on and on.

In the meantime we like to believe the county’s relatively early adherence to the CDC recommendations (along with our relative remoteness) has helped limit the number of cases in the county (a remarkable zero as of this writing earlier this week).

But while the illness has been kept in check to this point, the economic fallout has spread into our county. We all saw the staggering numbers of those filing for the first time for unemployment compensation on the national level last week. We have yet to see the numerical impact in Clinton County and while our largest employer, First Quality, continues to truck along, that is not the case in some “non-essential” smaller plants and commercial/retail businesses put on hold by the state.

It won’t be until later this month that Pennsylvania will release its March unemployment rate, but look for a sizeable hike. Clinton County Economic Partnership CEO Mike Flanagan this week passed along some numbers on how relatively stable the employment picture has been in Clinton County in recent times.

He said the county rate has been in single digits for almost 20 years; the last time it was above 10 percent was an 11.3 percent figure in 1995. Flanagan said his records go back to 1970 and the highest rate found was 23.1 percent in April of 1980, when an estimated 4,300 were unemployed. Folks old enough to remember will recall that was about the time Piper Aircraft was in the process of pulling up stakes and concentrating its manufacturing in Florida.

The Agnes flood of June, 1972, left a catastrophic impact on the employment level. By July of that year, there were 3,000 left without a job and the unemployment rate was 19.7 percent.

The coronavirus economic pinch now being felt won’t be going away for a while; we can only hope it will be a matter of months and not years (and yes, partisan politics in Washington have been put on hold, at least short term, as the politicians have actually worked together on a stimulus package in an effort to keep the population economically solvent).

However, as the commissioners earlier this week noted, folks in Clinton County have stepped up to assuage the impact on those less fortunate. All kinds of social service agencies, many of them relying on volunteer after volunteer, are working to lend a hand to those in need. You’ve seen the stories on food being given away, benefitting needy public school students to adults of all ages, from one end of Clinton County to the other.

What is nice is that many of these volunteers are getting a pat on the back. It’s not something they seek, it’s just something they do for fellow community members.

If they don’t mind (and I won’t use their names), I’d like to share a couple social media comments I came across about the better angels in our community.

I found these on the “I > Renovo” Facebook page and thought I’d repeat them here:

From Social Media Person # 1, about the volunteers he had encountered:

“One of those volunteers said something to me the other day when I asked if they were concerned about being out and getting sick. Their response was, ‘Yes, I am concerned but people need help and if I get sick in the process of helping others then at least I was doing something good for those in need.’ I think that’s what it comes down to. All of those volunteers were wearing gloves and doing their best to stay six feet apart while providing help to people who need it.’”

And the response from one of those western Clinton County volunteers, Social Media Person # 2:

“They are a special bunch and of course their health would seem insignificant to them compared to this program as they know the situation here and their love of community and concern for others. I can’t thank them enough. Thanks for sharing that. The bottom line is we are in the same boat with the virus but we are NOT in the same boat with many other things.”

These are stories we’re seeing all across Clinton County, the kind of stories that often don’t make the headlines but the kind that should. We’re happy to share these feel good stories with our print readers and online visitors. These folks don’t seek any special recognition, but when the need arises, they have stepped up to serve their friends and neighbors in need of a hand.

We can’t thank them enough. When you get the opportunity, please share your appreciation for what they are doing.

And, yes, someday, sometime, we’ll all get through this together. And we’ll all be the better for it.