YEAR IN REVIEW: 2020 filled with challenges, but also triumphs of spirit and community

COVID-19 is the top news story for 2020. The novel coronavirus reared its ugly head at the beginning of the year and left much destruction in its wake. The pandemic shut down schools and businesses, canceled events, and left people without jobs. Many people were impacted by the virus in some way. Because of the nature of the beast, friends and family members died alone with the disease. Social distancing, hand sanitizing and mask wearing became norms through most of 2020.

Locally, people stepped up to help. P. Graham Dunn began making hundreds of thousands of medical masks to be used by hospitals across the country. Pioneer IWS (Industrial Workflow Solutions), a steel fabricator east of Kidron, and other businesses including Miller Weldmaster, worked together to manufacture hospital cots. Cots filled the Great Columbus Convention Center, and the assembly line at Pioneer IWS was set up to be able to produce 1,000 cots a day, if needed.

Read the complete story in the Jan. 6, 2021 edition.