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Chris Fay, a consultant in his mid-50s, lives on the water in Bristol. At this time of year, and through the warm weather months, he likes to start his day on the water in Providence. Specifically, on the Seekonk River, in a rowing shell, with friends from the Narragansett Boat Club. After a brisk early-morning row, he heads to his office downtown.
But not now. That idyllic start to Chris Fay’s day was B.C., as in Before Coronavirus. These days, the landmark boathouse at the bottom of Blackstone Park on the East Side of Providence is locked tight. Since March 13 NBC members have been on their own.
Rowing is another example of things we took for granted in Sports World but must do without until we get this dangerous new coronavirus microbe under control. And I do not mean big things like pro sports, March Madness, The Masters, the Boston Marathon, and Wimbledon, each of which has been suspended, postponed or cancelled.
No, I mean things like Little League tryouts and opening day ceremonies. Roger Williams University athletes on training runs by my house in Bristol. Golfers strolling fairways visible from the road at places like Swansea Country Club, Metacomet Golf Club, Rhode Island CC. Fishermen shoulder to shoulder on the banks of ponds and rivers on Opening Day. Baseball fans catching an early season PawSox game at McCoy Stadium. Tennis players rallying on hard courts while waiting for the green clay at Roger William Park or the green grass at the Newport Casino, Agawam Hunt, or Pt. Judith CC to be ready. Pickup basketball games on almost any court.
Even simple things like calling your kid brother a teammate. My lawn guy, Mike Camelo, told me about his sons. London is a senior and the starting catcher on the Mt. Hope High School baseball team in Bristol, Parker a freshman and a shortstop. The brothers looked forward to playing on the same team this spring. Not now, not with social distancing and Governor Gina Raimondo’s ban on gatherings of more than five people extended through May 8. Opportunity lost.
Here is another. High-school seniors and NBC youth stars Misha Kiselev and Emily Regan of La Salle Academy and Lexi DeShaw of Classical were looking forward to returning to the USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota in June. Not now. Last week, USRowing cancelled its entire spring youth regatta schedule.
But weep not, my friends, for this story has a happy ending. According to Chris, my neighbor, NBC members rented the club’s rowing machines — known as ergometers, or ergs – and took them home. The monthly rental fee goes into a financial aid fund to support young rowers. Since mid-March, members have logged in to Zoom at 6 in the morning and participated in hour-long workouts directed by one of the club’s Masters champions.
Wait, there’s more. Julia Berkson, an NBC youth member, spearheaded a fundraiser that netted several thousand dollars to provide to-go meals from local restaurants for healthcare providers. A member suggested ways to fashion face shields from acetate and polycarbonate sheets. When supplies of those materials were gone, Chris came up with another idea. Clear 2-liter bottles. He contacted the good folks at Polar Beverages and last Thursday drove to Worcester and returned with 200 clean, clear bottles in the back of his pickup. Over the weekend, Chris, his wife Beth, and their children John, a Brown freshman, and Claire, a Moses Brown sophomore, fabricated 120 shields. He could have dubbed them Fayce Shields. A friend, also a physician at Prima CARE in Fall River, picked them up Monday.
Chris is one of the hundreds of small businessmen in Rhode Island reeling from the economic fallout of this pandemic, but he is focusing on the big picture. “My small consulting firm not surprisingly has zero revenue these days,” he wrote in an email Monday.” It is my continuing hope and intention to keep everyone on our small staff employed. And to do that is a useful way, we have turned out efforts to other creative ways to turn out ‘DIY PPE.’ The main focus has been how frontline practitioners can convert common painter’s respirators into suitable particulate filtering facemasks.”
But before Chris Fay resumes that daily pursuit, he lowers his shell into the chilly water behind his house, shoves off and rows on Bristol Harbor in the early morning calm.
