Coronavirus masks symbolize cultural divide

Two signs outside the Cornwall Country Market alert customers that they must wear masks inside the store.
Photo by Debra A. Aleksinas

A lone couple occupied a public bench along Kent’s Main Street on a recent Sunday morning as the town slowly came alive with people walking their dogs, dining outdoors or out for a drive.
Unlike most others around them who were sporting facial masks, this couple was bare-faced, and they intend to stay that way.
“It’s my choice, and I choose not to wear a mask. I don’t have to explain why to anybody,” said an adamant Justin Breecher, who was out enjoying a motorcycle ride with his companion through Litchfield County. “I keep my distance.”
As he spoke, a passerby who overheard the conversation paused and calmly uttered through his black face covering, “Not cool, dude,” and continued on his way.
The brief exchange, while hardly confrontational when compared to some explosive encounters nationwide between front-line workers and mask scofflaws, is indicative of the divisiveness that has erupted over mandatory mask requirements.
On April 20, in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order requiring everyone in Connecticut to cover their faces with masks or cloth coverings while out in public where social distancing cannot be maintained.
But the requirement is not a law, which means businesses like grocery and convenience stores, restaurants, bars and gyms are left to enforce those rules despite a lack of guidance from the state on how to do so. Across Connecticut and the nation, masks have become a flash point in the virus culture wars as people resume going out in public while coronavirus cases continue to surge.
Masks are like a vaccine
Recent health reports support wearing cloth facial coverings as a means of limiting transmission of the coronavirus.
Some people choose to wear masks for their safety and the safety of people around them. Others say they feel it is a violation of public liberty, or that the virus poses no danger or that masks are unattractive or uncomfortable.
“Masks are hot, ugly and make you feel stupid. The elastic loop always gets stuck over the arm of your glasses when you remove them to wipe off the condensation and you look even more stupid. Plus they’re un-American,” said Sharon epidemiologist Dr. James Shepherd, an infectious disease consultant at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Masks, said Shepherd, who has worn them for decades, are no one’s favorite item.
“Nonetheless,” he said, “that fragment of material that covers your nose and mouth is like a cut-price vaccine.”
And here’s why: “A seasonal flu vaccine doesn’t protect you from flu 100%. In fact it is only about 50% effective in a good year.”
But 50% is still better than nothing, and, Shepherd said, “If you do get infected it also reduces the likelihood of you passing the flu virus on to someone else.”
A mask, he said, does exactly the same for the coronavirus.
“By wearing it you reduce the chances that infected viral droplets will be inhaled into your airway. In return, if you are infected your droplets will be trapped.”
Masks also seem to have a “significant effect” on reducing the efficiency of viral transmission, they allow us to “open up” safely again, and communities that have adhered to mask wearing among other things seem to be much safer than communities that haven’t, said Shepherd.
“It seems like a small price to pay.”
Jody Diaz, a customer at the Kent Mobil convenience store, echoed Shepherd’s sentiment.
“I don’t love wearing it,” she said referring to her fashionable bumble bee-themed mask. “Of course it’s uncomfortable. I look at it this way: Worst-case scenario is if I don’t wear it and somebody dies.
“That doesn’t seem like such a big sacrifice if I can keep people healthy,” said the Southbury, Conn., resident.
Pointing to a sign on the door of Kent Mobil advising customers to wear a mask, Diaz said she is also concerned about the burden resting on business owners to enforce mask policies that are a requirement rather than a law.
“It’s not something they signed up for when they opened their business. Many are also trying to deal with having just reopened after being shut down.”
‘I can’t enforce it’
Inside Kent Mobil, store manager Nee Maddumage said if a customer refuses to cover his or her face at his establishment, there is little he can do.
“I can’t judge. I don’t know if they have asthma or something. I can’t enforce it. The only thing I can say is ‘be supportive, wear a mask.’”
Maddumage estimated that about 98% of customers don masks, and that the scofflaws are few and far between.
“This community is so supportive,” he said, noting that several customers have donated large supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) to store employees, including surgical masks and protective gloves, which he and his cashier were wearing.
At Stateline Pizza in North Canaan, owner Chris Christodoulou said when a customer comes into his restaurant bare-faced, he offers them a mask. Despite a notice on the front door announcing that masks are required, “If somebody doesn’t wear one, I can’t be the police, too, especially if it is a long-time customer. I have so many other things to worry about, and the rule is not law, so it’s difficult to enforce.”
But avoid confrontations
Bob LaBonne Jr., owner of LaBonne’s Market in Salisbury (with stores in Watertown, Prospect and Woodbury, Conn., as well), has enough on his hands trying to keep his employees and customers safe from COVID-19, so he has directed his employees not to confront mask-less customers for fear of triggering a confrontation.
“In the last three months we’ve banned more customers than in the last three years,” said LaBonne. Employees have been subject to “f-bombs,” rude behavior, refusal to wear masks or to have their temperature taken before entering the store, which is the store policy.
“I don’t engage with them. I want to be respectful.” But respectful only goes so far.
“We had one instance where we had to call the police,” said LaBonne, referring to a customer, a landscaper, in his 30s, who was shouting obscenities and refused to don a mask.
“He gave everybody a hard time” because he was not allowed to enter the store, said LaBonne. “I told him he was on private property and it was our choice if we chose to make [mask wearing] mandatory.” Not wanting to cause a disturbance, workers waited until the customer left and then summoned police. “They warned him not to come back,” said the store owner.
LaBonne, who sits on the reopening study committee for the Region One School District, is a staunch believer in the value of face masks in slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
On a recent committee conference call, he said, a physician pointed to a case in Missouri where two hairdressers who did not know they were COVID-19 positive potentially exposed 140 customers and six coworkers to the virus.
Face masks, said LaBonne, were credited with preventing transmission from that exposure.
The grocery chain owner has a message for anti-maskers: “One of my best friends spent 90 days at Yale,” fighting the coronavirus, said LaBonne. “For three crucial days, in the middle of it, he told me, ‘My only job was to breathe.’”
“In the end, when all of this is said and done,” added LaBonne, “we are all going to be judged by our actions.”
Weatogue Stables has an opening: for a full time team member. Experienced and reliable please! Must be available weekends. Housing a possibility for the right candidate. Contact Bobbi at 860-307-8531.
Hector Pacay Service: House Remodeling, Landscaping, Lawn mowing, Garden mulch, Painting, Gutters, Pruning, Stump Grinding, Chipping, Tree work, Brush removal, Fence, Patio, Carpenter/decks, Masonry. Spring and Fall Cleanup. Commercial & Residential. Fully insured. 845-636-3212.
SNOW PLOWING: Be Ready! Local. Sharon/Millerton/Lakeville area. Call 518-567-8277.
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE: Equal Housing Opportunity. All real estate advertised in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1966 revised March 12, 1989 which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color religion, sex, handicap or familial status or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All residential property advertised in the State of Connecticut General Statutes 46a-64c which prohibit the making, printing or publishing or causing to be made, printed or published any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, age, lawful source of income, familial status, physical or mental disability or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.

Students dressed in neon lined the soccer field for senior night under the lights on Thursday, Oct. 16. The game against Lakeview was the last in a series of competitions Thursday night in celebration of Homecoming 2025.
As homecoming week reaches its end and fall sports finish out the season, an air of school spirit and student participation seems to be on the rise across Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
But what can be attributed to this sudden peak of student interest? That’s largely due to SGA. Also known as the Student Government Association, SGA has dedicated itself to creating events to bring the entire student body together. This year, they decided to change some traditions.
Spirit week from Oct. 14-17 was unlike those of the previous years. From wearing Housatonic merch to Boomer vs Baby day, this year’s spirit week held a little friendly competition to see which grade could participate the most.
“I think that students are bored of the same old activities and events, so it’s good to switch things up even slightly to incentivize interest within students,” said SGA president and senior Mollie Ford. “Plus the point system is super beneficial because it gives students a reason to participate.”
The school spirit sentiment can be seen outside of just the school. Senior Simon Markow is known for his photography throughout the community, and has dedicated time to help Housy sports teams’ social media posts.
“Since I’ve started photography, I think school attendance [at sports games] has gone up,” Markow said. “I feel this year, students will be more aware of games and are more likely to be at the games.”
Whether it’s a pink-out volleyball game or an under the lights soccer match, it’s likely you’ll see some familiar faces.
Social media has played a large role in this over the years. Almost every student organization at Housatonic has an Instagram account, and it’s helped reach students more efficiently than a poster or email would.
“The increase of social media use, with the help from me but as well as the teams themselves has definitely increased student interest,” Markow said. “With Housy teams posting more about their upcoming games, and my help showing the cool goals, spikes, or touchdowns, it’s enlightened students to watch the games themselves.”
In a small school, promoting pride has proven to be a challenge. But this year’s senior class has made some adjustments in the hopes to change that.
“The SGA community has spent the last few years really focusing on student participation, because we think it’s the students who contribute to a better climate,” Ford said. While Housatonic’s student body may be small in size, it seems they certainly aren’t small in spirit.
The weekend of Homecoming at HVRHS was packed with events including rival games under the lights, senior night, and a new take on Homecoming that moves it outside — and it wouldn’t have been possible without the students of Housatonic.
Orchestrating was no easy feat, especially considering much of the work was left up to the students.
Historically, HVRHS has hosted night games for boys and girls soccer and the GNH football team, but when members of the soccer team asked the athletic director, Anne MacNeil, she left it up to the students to acquire the lights necessary to host a night game.
“I said, ‘Hey, if you can find the lights, we can make it happen,’” MacNeil said. “I usually take control of it, but I really wanted to have the teams have the initiative and take responsibility for it. I think by having them do that, they have a lot more invested in it.”
Finding lights for the game was a challenge in and of itself, and it fell on the students, parents, and alumni to come together if there was to be a night game at all.
Luckily for the players, Patricia and Dino Labbadia, parents of senior Anthony Labaddia, were able to amass the support of the community and get all the necessary equipment donated for the night game.
“We’re fortunate with our communities. Our parents know people in communities and they were able to ask… [and] find the resources,” MacNeil said. “We’ve got a great senior group and senior parent group who have really taken charge … and really made the whole season possible.”
In the end, the night came together spectacularly, and the senior ceremonies, rivalry games, and nighttime fixtures made for a memorable night on the day before Homecoming.
The action began at 4 p.m. Thursday, when the JV Girls Volleyball team played rivals Lakeview High School at home.
At 4:30, the middle school boys soccer team as well as the cross country team faced Northwestern at Housatonic’s lower field and cross country course respectively. Also at 4:30, the JV boys soccer team took on rival Lakeview at Housatonic’s upper field.
At 5:15, the girls varsity volleyball team honored their seniors at Housatonic’s Senior Night ceremony, including captains Katie Crane and Victoria Brooks, before an intense match against Lakeview.
At 6:15, the boys varsity soccer team honored their seniors, including captains Everet Belancik and Abram Kirshner, before kicking off under the lights at Housatonic’s upper field against the Bobcats.
Friday night changes
Typically, Homecoming is hosted in the cafeteria with a DJ and the entire room open as a dance floor. Dancing is the main event, with a small photo op stationed next to one of the exits.
The typical formal dance filled with LED lights and glitter looked a bit different this year. For the HVRHS 2025 Homecoming, the activities all took place outside. There was a large bonfire for students to hang around, a tented area perfect for dancing, and lawn games to play.
The inspiration for this change comes from the Homecoming hosted during the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions put into place at the time. Senior class President Madison Graney said “Other years passed, graduating classes really enjoyed it and we wanted to give it a try.”
Although the theme of Homecoming remains the same, new tasks came in preparation for the event. Including the Bonfire “adds a whole new component,” Graney said. “[We] have to contact the fire department to ensure that the bonfire is being contained.” Hosting the dance outside also demanded “more preparation the day before … set up the tents and make sure it’s a safe and fun space for everyone to enjoy.”
Opinions about Homecoming’s new look vary amongst the student body, with some excited for change and others comfortable with the familiarity of an inside dance. Alexa Meach, an HVRHS senior, expressed that “Everyone that I’ve talked to’s plan is to get dressed up, take photos, and then change into more comfortable clothes because it’s going to be freezing. I feel like we could have had a different event for the bonfire. I think they could have been two separate events.”
Graney said the change is “A really great way to change up the tradition ... [and] another good way to get to know your peers and your teachers and interact with the student body all at once.”