High River mayor takes to social media to address residents

High River Mayor Craig Snodgrass provided a COVID-19 update via Facebook Live.

On April 2, Snodgrass began his updates by giving much deserved praise to the health care providers, those working at the hospital, and all the first responders.

“Kudos on you for continuing to deal directly with people and putting yourself out there,” Snodgrass said. “We appreciate it because whatever you're doing, it's not easy through these times.”

Snodgrass also complimented those who are keeping essential services and businesses running. Some businesses, Snodgrass said, state that they are lucky to be open, but some of the staff are like kind of nervous about going to work. Snodgrass emphasized the importance of being thankful to everyone working at those essential business and also reminded everyone to respect social distancing guidelines when partaking of the essential services.

“We’re kind of getting used to being at home more and not going out, but we cannot start to become complacent in our in our efforts for this,” Snodgrass said.

Snodgrass then said that right before the meeting, he was talking about the stories that everyone’s grandparents used to tell about the depression years that involved decades of rationing and everything else. The kind of restrictions that everyone is dealing with now, Snodgrass said, are relatively simpler in that this may be over in a matter of months and people in the past struggled with such restrictions for years.

“We will recover; we will go on, but it will take time,” Snodgrass said. “I'm not looking at it as a doom and gloom thing, though, even though it’s not fun. We all have to be very, very careful because it is extremely serious, but we will get through this. We've got each other's backs and we can make this happen.”

To help High River get through the pandemic faster, Snodgrass suggested that residents first act as though they have the virus and act as though they can transmit it.

Handwashing is critical, Snodgrass said, and always using hand sanitizers is also critical. When people go into the grocery, they should get your groceries and go out again as quickly as possible using every precaution available in the course of shopping. Snodgrass said that essential distance is still physically two meters apart and people should stay home as much as possible.

“Continue to focus on High River,” Snodgrass said. “This means primarily focusing on yourself and your family and making sure you're all taking all the hygiene and all that self distancing seriously. After that, focus on your neighbors and then focus on your community.”

Although trails are still open for people to exercise on, Snodgrass implores everyone to focus simply on getting both exercise and fresh air and not stopping to socialize. All town playgrounds are closed, sealed off with yellow ribbons to keep people from accessing the equipment.

George Lane Park Campground is also closed, Snodgrass said, and will be for the foreseeable future. Snodgrass was likewise very firm about snowbirds and those who are in quarantine staying on their property and away from public trails. The Town, Snodgrass said, is also looking at restricting vehicle access to the campground parking lots because cars are having issues complying with social distancing regulations.