Virus claims a rite of summer
Orders to stay home put a damper on seasonal activities, shine light on the good to come
The disappearance of 117 English settlers in 1587 is one of America’s most fascinating and bizarre mysteries. Living on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina, the group vanished, leaving behind no trace apart from a single word — “Croatoan” — carved into a wooden post.
The strange and unexplained event is commemorated each year with “The Lost Colony,” an outdoor stage production at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site in Manteo, N.C., where it has been performed nearly every year since 1937.
This year, however, the coronavirus crisis has made it impossible to conduct safely. And though they hoped to begin the play on a delayed schedule, organizers announced this week that they would cancel the scheduled performances this year.
Amid so much death and sorrow to result from this crisis, the fact that “The Lost Colony” will not take place amounts to a minor footnote. Certainly our focus should be on more important matters.
And yet, events such as this are rites of summer in our communities.
The play has been a cherished destination for generations on the Outer Banks, for residents and visitors alike, and its absence this year is another frustrating reminder of how our lives have changed dramatically in this crisis — and how welcome a return to normalcy will be when we get there.
An institution pauses
It’s been heartbreaking for us as journalists to watch our industry, which was already in financial distress, suffer as a result of the economic calamity caused by the coronavirus.
Still reliant on advertising rather than subscriptions for sustainability, newspapers have been forced to make some difficult choices about how to continue delivering critical information to readers while remaining solvent.
Still, even knowing those challenges, it is regrettable to learn this week that The New Journal and Guide, a local institution and the oldest black-owned business in Norfolk, will suspend publication after
April 16.
In an email, Brenda Andrews, owner and publisher, said she hoped the suspension of publishing the newspaper would be temporary — a sentiment we share — and that she has targeted June 4 as a possible date of resumption.
The New Journal and Guide will this year celebrate 120 years of service to the community, a milestone it planned to mark on May 17. The gala has been postponed to Sept. 13 as a result of this crisis, and one hopes this setback is temporary.
The paper has chronicled the African American experience in Norfolk for more than a century. It is a valuable, and needed, part of the local landscape. May it return soon.
Baby sloth
The Virginia Zoo may be closed right now, but there’s a new reason to look forward to its reopening.
The zoo announced this week that it recently welcomed a new addition: a two-toed sloth, the first sloth born at the institution. The offspring is the first born by sloth mom Honey and sloth dad Mervin and arrived on March 8.
According to Pilot reporting, those animals came to the zoo in 2018 from a private owner and were housed at the Animal Wellness Campus for a period of quarantine and temporary housing while their exhibit was built.
They moved into their exhibit at the World of Reptiles in March 2019.
“The infant is doing really well, nursing from mom and eating small bites of cooked veggies from its mom and the keepers,” said Dr. Colleen Clabbers, the zoo’s veterinarian, in a press release.
“Our keepers are monitoring mom and baby’s behavior closely as they bond and are skilled at identifying subtle changes in the animals.”
The new baby sloth has not yet been named. Zoo officials are holding an online auction for naming rights, with proceeds going to the emergency relief fund established to help the zoo and its employees endure the coronavirus shutdown.
Knowing the cuteness that awaits visitors once the zoo reopens, that moment can hardly come soon enough.