Look Back: Scenes from 2020

As years go, 2020 started off pretty normal in Waterbury. But just barely two months in, it became clear that COVID-19 had other plans for 2020. Town Meeting Day was Super Tuesday in the presidential primary election and the last time many local residents saw many of their neighbors together for some time. 

By mid-March, the governor's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order sent thousands of Vermont workers and school students to work and learn from home. After a crash course in germ theory, we learned about wearing masks, “social distancing” and connecting online through Zoom. People invented drive-by birthday parties. Stores and restaurants mastered curbside pickup. Graduations were drive-in and drive by while just driving through town became an obstacle course as Main Street underwent its second year of a severe makeover although the friendly flagging crew helped us make the best of it. 

Our little town was not untouched by the awakening to racial injustice that captured the nation’s attention last summer. Local residents, many of them very young, courageously told their stories as hundreds listened, marched and vowed to work to do better starting with a banner on Main Street to remind us. Summertime meant time outside even if favorite events were called off. Vermonters hiked and biked and flocked to swimming holes, spreading out to not spread germs. 

Schools transformed with teachers and students determined to pick up where they left off in March even if it meant only seeing each other in person a couple of days a week. Our fall celebrations went ahead with folks now accustomed to greeting with eye contact and waves. Masks became part of Halloween costumes and people in cars formed their own River of Light to parade past hundreds of lanterns that lit the December darkness.  

And along the way, Waterbury lost its weekly newspaper. Volunteers and students stepped up to document and share local news. As we begin 2021, Waterbury Roundabout will continue to keep the community informed. 

Thank you for reading. 

-- Lisa Scagliotti, editor

2020 started off as expected. Winterfest in late January featured a week’s worth of outdoor fun and shenanigans like snow volleyball on the state complex lawn. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Broomball always attracts a crowd at Winterfest. Photo by Gordon Miller.

The Harwood boys hockey team took home their third-ever Division II state championship in March, defeating Milton at UVM’s Gutterson Fieldhouse. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Seeing a tightly packed crowd a year later seems strange. Fans packed last winter’s hockey and basketball games at home and away. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Harwood girls basketball team leaps off their home bench as they clinch the Division II quarterfinals win against Mt. Abraham in March. The victory sent the Highlanders to the Barre Auditorium to defeat North Country in the semifinals. Both teams eventually were declared co-champions as the playoffs were halted prematurely due to COVID-19. Photo by Gordon Miller.

March 26, 2020: The final edition of the Waterbury Record, published weekly since 2007.

Grocery store shelves empty of paper products and popular food items were a common sight as Vermonters were told to ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Food service staff in the Harwood Union Unified School District made the Harwood Union High School cafeteria home base to prepare hundreds of meals a day delivered to schools for families to pick up as the school year continued with students at home. Photo courtesy HUUSD Food Service.

Classes were remote but schools were open for meal pickup. Principal Denise Goodnow helps unload a lunch delivery at Thatcher Brook Primary School. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Restaurants closed and appealed to customers to help them shift to the new takeout model. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Of course graduation would go on. Harwood reimagined 2020 commencement like a visit to the drive-in. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Students cross the stage for their diplomas almost as usual. Eye contact above masks replaces handshakes. Photo by Gordon Miller.

The middle and primary schools did drive-by graduations. Teachers cheer on finishing fourth graders at Thatcher Brook. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Public meetings catch on with Zoom so going to a select board or school board meant logging in from home. Screenshot.

National events play out close to home as local residents hold a racial justice rally and march in June highlighting firsthand examples of racial discrimination. Photo by Gordon Miller.

The Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition takes shape to prompt conversation and change in the community toward breaking down racial biases. A new banner flies as a daily reminder. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti.

Year two of Main Street reconstruction dug deep through the heart of downtown to replace aging infrastructure, rebuild a main artery and install new sidewalks and streetlights. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Navigating the construction zone was a daily challenge. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Many got to know the friendly faces on the flagging crew who persevered through dust and heat and some intense pop-up thunder storms. Photo by Whitney Aldrich. 

Outdoor recreation became more important than ever in 2020 as Vermonters headed outside for open spaces, exercise and mental health. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Events that weren’t called off adapted to the new normal. 2020 was the summer for drive-in and drive-by concerts. Photo by Gordon Miller.

How many elections did 2020 have? In Waterbury and Duxbury, four. Nice weather offered a chance at drive-up voting that Duxbury elections officials tried for the June school budget revote. It went so well they did it again in the August primary and even the November general election. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti.

Just in case things were noisy or busy enough on the ground, the railroad’s plan for trimming trees featured an eye-catching operation with aerial saws dangling from a helicopter. Photo by Gordon Miller.

COVID-19 couldn’t stop summer rec camp which forged ahead spreading out across three locations in downtown, often with a front-row seat to the Main Street action. Camp was a preview to how school would unfold in September. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Masks and face shields, thermometers and daily health questions. It seemed daunting on opening day but now it’s the new normal as school students and their teachers navigate the new normal. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti.

Halloween gave many a chance to incorporate masks into costumes as they dressed up and met up outdoors at safe distances. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Veterans, friends and family gathered to mark Veterans Day with attendees at Rusty Parker Memorial Park spread out and wearing masks but still honoring those who served. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Hugs aren’t allowed but signs are. Students and parents surprised their teachers with a slew of them ahead of Thanksgiving at Thatcher Brook Primary School. Photo by Gordon Miller.

River of Light took on a whole new meaning in 2020. Headlights and taillights added to the spectacle of hundreds of lanterns mounted in Dac Rowe Park, along the Crossett Brook Middle School drive and farther away at Red Hen Cafe and Waitsfield Elementary. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Santa got the drive-by message and even brought along the Easter Bunny for good measure. Photo by Gordon Miller.

Many residents did plenty of holiday shopping close to home as local retailers and restaurants decked out with lights and curbside pickup appealing to customers to keep up their support as they ended a most challenging year. Photo by Gordon Miller.