As of August 3rd, 36 percent of Coronavirus cases in Santa Cruz County were contracted by 18-34 year olds, by far the largest age group of virus carriers.  In response to this sudden and large case increase amongst the County’s younger population, the Santa Cruz County Business Council, Santa Cruz Works, and the Small Business Development Center of Cabrillo College put together a town hall on July 29th.  For a little less than two hours, Dr. Gail Newell, the Santa Cruz County Health Official, and Dr. Marm Kilpatrick, UCSC Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, advised youth to “#dontkillgrandma.”

Childcare has proven a vital resource these past few months.  It’s also been constantly evolving with health mandates, forcing parents into difficult decisions and some services to close entirely.  The eternal favorite summer childcare, camp, which is generally bountiful in our beautiful valleys, has become a scarce commodity. As summer wears on, summer camps have finally stabilized their protocols and found a small patch of certainty.  I checked up on several camps to learn more about their struggles and accomplishments throughout this strange summer.

On July 23rd, the City Council of Scotts Valley held a Town Hall dedicated to supporting local business through the latest string of closures, which they predicted would be enforced within a week.  The meeting took place just in time, as five days later, Santa Cruz County was placed on the COVID state monitoring list for three days.  As of July 28th, for three weeks, indoor activities taking place in gyms, worship centers, hair and nail salons, non-essential offices, shopping malls, and protests are canceled.  Throughout the meeting, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Danny Reber, City Manager Tina Friend, Vice Mayor Derek Timm, and Mayor Randy Johnson spoke of ways to support our community through these next trying weeks, and also answered questions from small business owners.

 Based on increased spread of COVID-19 and in order to protect the

RJ Kindred is the kind of person you want to be when you grow up. A determined athlete and dedicated community member, he has woven his way through a lifetime of education in the San Lorenzo Valley, and emerged from the other side with an eye on serving his community. It’s this spirit and determination that resulted in Kindred ending his senior year in high school with not only a diploma, but a raft of awards and scholarships. Each is meaningful to the SLV grad, but his heart was most moved with the award of the Jack DeBord Memorial Scholarship. The $20,000 gift ($5,000 over four years) means that Kindred can pursue his goals of working in the fire service, but it means so much more than that to this well-spoken young man. “I knew Jack on the football field,” says Kindred. “He was a hard-working kid that everyone liked and respected. When we were doing our summer training for football, we’d all work out together, but then the coaches would split is up into our positions on the team. Jack was going to be the starting JV football quarterback, and I was lined up to be the starting varsity quarterback, so we worked together pretty closely. He was just an awesome kid—smart, funny, driven, super hard worker. Everyone loved him.” At the first home football game at SLVHS with Scotts Valley High School in August of 2019 following Jack’s death, SLVHS Principal Jeff Calden read the following statement: “Our two communities shared a loss this summer, and we want to recognize that Scotts Valley resident, and San Lorenzo Valley High School student athlete, our friend, Jack DeBord, isn’t here with us tonight. We lost Jack to suicide in June, and to those students who are here tonight, know that you are loved, that there is no shame in asking for help, and that each of your lives is meaningful.” Those words were shared again in the presentation of the scholarship to Kindred in a video that can be found at https://youtu.be/Bf2jG7uXDxA. Jack’s parents, Katalin and Jim, were both pleased that Kindred was the inaugural recipient of the scholarship. “After Jack’s death, it very quickly became apparent to my husband that he wanted to do something to honor Jack and bring awareness to suicide prevention. We couldn’t have been more caught off guard by Jack’s decision to take his life. Our faith in Jesus Christ is the only thing that is sustaining us through such a devastating loss.” Indeed, the family has embraced Romans 8:28: And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. “This is a reflection of the Lord taking an awful situation and bringing good out of it,”says Katalin. “Jack had the world by the tail,” says Jim DeBord. “He excelled at everything he ever tried. He had a long list of outstanding accomplishments, but his character was at the top.” The DeBord family worked with the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County (CFSCC) to establish a scholarship in Jack’s name. “We had three things in mind after Jack’s death,” says Jim. “We wanted to be bold in our faith, highlight suicide awareness and prevention, and keep Jack’s name alive, so we set up this scholarship to honor him and benefit the community. He was super attached to the SLV community,” says Jim, his voice cracking. “Our only parameters for the recipient were that the winner had to be an SLVHS senior and a student athlete,” says Katalin, “and we’re really grateful that RJ was the awardee.” Jim is equally pleased. “I saw the video published by CFSCC naming RJ as the recipient, and it was unbelievably moving. RJ’s statement regarding Jack is a testament to our son’s character.” It came as a tremendous shock to Kindred, and the SLVHS football family, when DeBord committed suicide in June of 2019. “It was just a really bad time.” The recollection of those times may be part of Kindred’s drive to serve his community in the fire service. Kindred spent two years in the Boulder Creek Fire Department’s Internship Program (participants must be in their junior or senior year of high school), and walked away with invaluable lessons that he hopes to apply to his line of work. “I’m going to start Cabrillo in the fall, and then, I want to transfer to a four-year college in Idaho or Montana and pursue a degree in fire science, and I want to come back here and work as close to the valley as possible. This is my home.” A portion of Kindred’s winning essay for the DeBord scholarship: “This past summer a friend, teammate, and someone that pushed me to be my best every day, passed away. He was only fifteen years old and he took his own life. His name was Jack Debord. He was the quarterback of the JV team and I was the quarterback for varsity. He was only a sophomore, but he was incredible. Everything he did was effortless and perfect. Nobody knew how he did it. When he threw, the ball had the tightest spiral and his powerful clean form was flawless. He was extremely special and [I wish] he knew the impact he had on me and everyone around him. For our football team, we…have workouts [where] we go against each other and compete for time or reps. One…time he beat me and our head coach came over to me and said, “Jack is beating you!” and told me that he was better than me. That right there lit a fire under me and pushed me to a new extreme. That off-season extra work helped me become 1st team All League Safety and MVP of our school team. He not only affected people in the weight room but also on the field and at school. He is the kind of kid everyone wants to be and be around. Jack had the smarts, the athletic ability, and the perfect relationship with his friends and girlfriend. He was something out of a book or movie.” If you would like to contribute to the Jack Debord Memorial Scholarship fund, contact the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County at cfscc.org. 

Beginning the week of July 20th through August 14th, black youth throughout the county can take part in an empowerment workshop put on by Chloe Gentile-Montgomery, a 2017 Santa Cruz High School graduate.  The program will give black youth the opportunity to learn about black history, building community, and meet other community members over Zoom for four weeks.  

Walking through the grounds of Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, one is met with the sights and sounds of a family-friendly environment. Youngsters blow wooden train whistles as they chase each other through the grass. Families enjoy a picnic lunch at the wooden tables, and couples walk hand-in-hand over the bridge past the pond. And yet…and yet. Masks are in abundance,  and are now a requirement to visit the historical site that began carrying tourists to the top of Bear Mountain, and down to Santa Cruz, in 1875. Hand sanitizer dispensers dot the area, and present-day signage (made with an appealing rustic look) reminds visitors of social distancing protocols.It’s been a struggle to reinvent this tourist attraction in the Covid-19 era. It was necessary to cancel events, reduce train ride bookings to allow for social distancing, and disallow vendors whose livelihoods depend on barbecuing lunches, painting faces or turning visitors into cartoon works of art.  Roaring Camp finally opened up about a month ago, and the tourists started to return.Leatha Brown is a sales coordinator and events manager for Roaring Camp. She’s been with the company for seven years,  and sees the impact of Covid-19 on the business. “Everything’s been canceled—all of our weddings, corporate, group and team building events—you name it. Some weddings have been tentatively rescheduled for the fall, but we’re still in a holding pattern. We have legacy events that happen here—Day Out with Thomas, the Redwood Mountain Fair, the Sol Fest, the Food Truck Challenge, the Saw Music Festival—that have all been canceled.” So how does a business that relies on so many large-scale events remain solvent in a pandemic economy? “We just recently started running our steam trains again, and our beach train on the weekends. We can’t operate at full capacity; we’re down from 200 seats per train to 70 seats to allow for social distancing. 2021 will be our 60th year of operation, and we’re hoping we can celebrate that anniversary with the community.” Brown says staff was furloughed when the virus first appeared in Santa Cruz County, but with the PPP loan (Paycheck Protection Program from the Small Business Administration), there haven’t been any layoffs. The other saving grace for Roaring Camp employees has been the awarding of the Great Plates program by the County of Santa Cruz. A total of five local businesses (Back Nine Grill and Bar, Johnny’s Harborside, Pearl of the Ocean, Swing Time Catering and Roaring Camp) were selected by a committee to deliver over 1,000 healthy meals to seniors each day, and employees are paid through a federal economic stimulus. “There are a lot of seniors who haven’t left the house since the pandemic took hold, and some say it’s the only meal they have all day,” says Brown.As we meander through the grounds, Brown points out the number of precautions that staff are taking to protect visitors and employees alike. “We have signage everywhere, and we wipe down every part of the train between each departure. You’ll also find staff regularly disinfecting bathrooms, picnic tables and all touchable surfaces.” I mention the additional expense that the business must have incurred from the virus; Brown nods. “We have literally spent thousands of dollars on signage, masks, gloves and cleaning supplies. We also have a check-in station at the entrance by the bridge where staff ask a series of questions before guests are allowed in. It’s been a major transition for all of us.”Phil Reader, engineer and steam engine fireman (note: not firefighter), has been working on the railroad for 40 years, and became part of the Roaring Camp family in 1979. He’s seen the impact of coronavirus on his beloved hometown railroad. “We used to see a lot of people out here recreating, and now they can’t. It’s been kind of depressing,” he says.Donnie Sage has been a Roaring Camp conductor and fireman for six years, and is rolling with the changes brought on by pandemic. “Most people are just happy to be out of the house and on the train,” says Sage, in between announcements aboard the Bear Mountain steam train such as:      • “Redwood trees get 40% of their annual moisture from coastal fog.”         • “The traditional whistle signal for approaching a crossing is Morse Code for “Q” which was commonly used in the UK to announce the approach of the queen.”         • “Redwood root systems are as long as the tree is tall.”While steaming our way up the 8.5% grade to the top of the mountain, Sage asks how many people are from out of town. Some hands go up, with the majority belonging to a group of eight people from Ft. Lauderdale. “We’d had this trip booked for two years, and we weren’t about to miss it,” says Lori Freeman. Aware that Florida has had skyrocketing infection rates of 10,000 - 15,000 new cases per day, the railroad’s efforts at social distancing and disinfecting are particularly welcome.“We don’t know when things will open back up again, but we can’t wait,” says Brown. “We’re aware that it depends on the governor and the county, and we’ll be relieved when we can get back on track.”She took the words right out of my mouth. 

On July 9th, the Santa Cruz METRO received a 20.6-million-dollar grant from the Federal Transit Administration, as a part of the CARES Act. Throughout the COVID crisis, METRO has provided vital and safe transportation for essential workers that otherwise would struggle to reach work.  Despite their great contributions to our community, a lack of funds has pushed the bus service into a perilous financial state.  Alex Clifford, the CEO of METRO, was greatly relieved for the funds, “First and foremost, we’re really grateful to Congress for providing economic relief to METRO early on with COVID.  It was incredible foresight.  So often you wait until it’s a problem to come up with a fix, but they have already provided a bridge to sustain service as much as we can throughout this crisis.  For now, this will help us stave off service reductions and layoffs.”