There’s a lot to say about the year 2020. Plenty went on in the Oxford area. Local governments from Addison Township to Oxford Village governed. Students studied. Merchants and ‘mom & pop” businesses did their best to make a profit. M-24 was torn up, right down to the dirt. There were elections — both local and national. But, just like the rest of the nation, in Oxford the Number One story of the year was the coronavirus, or more commonly called, COVID-19.
COVID-19 touched everything. Local governments closed their doors to residents; they held their meetings not in person rather via computers and internet — each of the elected board members safely sitting in their own homes. Schools were closed, then opened, then closed again. Students studied from home and students studied in class. High school sports were on, then there were off. Local people and groups came together to support one another.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer closed small businesses across the state. Those same small, community businesses struggled to survive without being open, some never did re-open. And, we were all told to wear our masks, wash our hands and “social distance” — stay six feet away from those we don’t know.
COVID-19 even effected The Leader. Without local, small business advertising to support us, since we published our first edition on April 15, 1898, we missed publishing our regular newspaper (with news, commentary, local advertising and want ads), in favor of publishing “sheets” with just health tips and public notices.
Also, starting on April 13, 2020 we printed a weekly COVID Update. Using Oakland County’s website, weekly we tallied the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in our area by ZIP Code (48367, 48370 and 48371).
On Week 1 of our report, there were 47 total cases and one death reported in our community of 30,892 people. Inside this week, we report there are 979 total cases and 12 local deaths reported by the county.
Inside, starting on Page 3, we present to you, our cherished subscribers, our annual Year in Review — the highs and lows, the ups and downs of life in our community this past year. January through June was compiled by reporter Teddy Rydquist; next week July through December by reporter James Hanlon.
As we move forward into a new year, let us remember 2020 not just for the hardships we faced, rather let us remember how, because of those hardships, we rose up to help each other.
— Don Rush, Dec. 28, 2020