Service With A Smile (Under Our Masks!) By:Katherine Fox Since the pandemic of COVID-19 has hit the world hard, people everywhere have tried to brighten the days of others through social media, social distanced meetings, and gifts, sanitized of course. There is no limit to the creativity of thousands of communities around the world. One thing people look forward to every single year is the holiday season. What good would a year be without Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas? In the Panhandle of Texas, businesses have done their best to create online ordering systems to attract customers who are uncomfortable with going inside stores, and restaurants have closed lobbies and drive throughs, and even pick up and delivery services for less cost than before. All this to say, the Panhandle has continued this effort into the holiday season, offering safe ways to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. During Halloween, safe measures were carried out by the city and those passing out candy from their homes. For Thanksgiving, every service project was done with masks and no food was handed out directly to another person. Tests for the virus were taken before and after getting together with others, and families unable to come together in person were met with each other's smiling faces on Zoom or FaceTime calls. Now it’s Christmas time in the Texas Panhandle, and Amarillo is prepared to host safe events to bring everyone’s spirit up. Randall High School’s Key Club has already been able to include the community in raising spirits by working with the Botanical Garden in Amarillo for their annual Christmas light display. Students working helped remind visitors to keep their masks on, some passed out sanitizers, and some walked around with groups of others to ensure social distancing and to answer any questions that may be asked of them. This light display is one of Amarillo’s beloved traditions, and the Key Club, who helps out every year, was excited to learn it would continue in 2020, due to the circumstances of the year. This event is still continuing through December, so Randall Key Club, go get your hours at the Botanical Gardens!!
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