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VOL. 124 NO. 26 www.whitebearpress.com $1.00
ICE-OUT: 2020 ties with 1928 PAGE 9 VID-1 O C
9
Empty at Easter: Faithful celebrate online
Fifth-positive patient tells story
BY SHANNON GRANHOLM LEAD EDITOR
This year’s Easter will look very different. Even though people may not be able to attend worship services in person, host a big meal or attend brunch, area churches want people to know that they are still there for them, just in a different way. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, churches have had to adapt their programming to still serve their members during these unprecedented times.
BY DEBRA NEUTKENS STAFF WRITER
White Bear Lake United Methodist Church About four weeks ago White Bear Lake United Methodist Church started planning for how it would continue to serve its members during the pandemic. In the beginning the church held in-person services with social distancing guidelines, but it has since moved its efforts all online. In addition to its regular Sunday worship services being available online, the church has implemented an evening prayer every night at 7 p.m. on Facebook live. Youth and children’s ministries, Sunday School and confi rmation has also moved online. “We are trying to give people a feel for being in worship but also changing it enough to realize that this is something people are watching in their homes with their families and that is different,” explained Senior Pastor Bill Eaves. “We are learning how to do that.” Eaves said in times of uncertainty, people can start to have questions such as “is God punishing us?” or “Is God trying to teach us a lesson?” “Our God
Down but not out, Greg Bartz has recovered from his bout with COVID-19. The disease twice put him in the hospital. He now tests negative for the virus. The 57-year-old Rotarian is sharing his personal journey with the respiratory illness in hopes people heed public health guidelines to minimize its spread. Bartz was the fifth person in Minnesota to test positive for coronavirus. The state health department affirmed his suspicions March 11 after the White Bear Township resident developed a low-grade fever and bad cough on March 6 and self-quarantined. A trio of concerns provided impetus to seek the test: he had been traveling, he was symptomatic and he has a compromised immune system. Last summer, Bartz was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called cardiac sarcoidosis. Cardiologists at Mayo Clinic put Bartz on immunosuppressive therapy in October. The treatment is proving successful; however, the downside is the therapy makes him more susceptible to other illnesses, like COVID-19. His doctors told him to get tested. After doing some online “detective work,” as he calls it, Bartz is convinced he contracted COVID-19 during the Rotary Club’s annual ski trip to Vail. He even knows when and where he was exposed. “We were in a bar Feb. 25. The place was packed,” Bartz recalled. “A guy was playing guitar and there were a few tables filled with foreigners. I read some newspaper articles later from Vail; the musician that evening became COVID-19 positive and was hospitalized March 10. He unfortunately passed away March 21.
SEE EMPTY AT EASTER, PAGE 11
SEE COVID-19, PAGE 10
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