Temperature aside, it would be easy enough to imagine it as another languid summer afternoon in Caledonia. The school parking lots are empty, but there are a dozen or so kids at Ola J. Pickett Park, riding their bikes and scooters or frolicking on the playground.
There’s not much traffic, but there’s nothing unusual about that, either: Caledonia, with a population of just more than 1,000, has a small business presence, but it’s mostly a commuter town to the much larger Columbus about 15 minutes away.
As COVID-19 becomes more and more a local story, you have to look carefully for the telltale signs here.
A few establishments are shuttered — the YMCA, for example — but apart from that, the town has become Curbside Caledonia.
Nowhere is that more visible than at the town’s only medical clinic. A sign on the door of the clinic, located next to the community center, tells would-be patients to call first and when they do, the clinic’s owners, nurse practitioners Amanda Fondren and Jordan Hudson, meet them at their car to screen and diagnose them.
“Basically, we’re doing two levels of triage,” Fondren said. “We ask them to call first. If it’s something we can do over the phone, we do what’s called a telemedicine visit. If there’s no way we can do that over the phone, we’ll have a car visit. We bring in as few patients to the clinic as possible.”
At Caledonia Pharmacy on Main Street, customers are limited to the pharmacy’s drive-through, something that’s been in place for years.
“It’s been pretty normal,” said pharmacist Justin Clark. “I do think maybe people are trying to stay closer to home. We’ve had some people transfer their prescriptions to us that they used to have filled in Columbus. People are asking questions about (the virus), but the feeling I get is that everybody’s chipping in and doing what they’ve been asked to do.
“I had one lady who has COPD, and she was bragging on the grocery store about how she called them and they got her groceries together and brought them out to the car,” he added.
That grocery store, Caledonia Shop and Save, is an exception in town for two reasons. First, along with the town’s Dollar General and convenience stores, it’s one of the few places where customers can enter the building. Second, business has really picked up.
“It’s been good, steady even since this all started,” said owner Alex Christian. “It’s not as crazy as it was at the start, where people were just loading up on things, especially toilet paper and hand sanitizer. But I do think we’re seeing customers now that maybe shopped in Columbus before.”
The store, the first local grocer to establish a “seniors only” period allowing older residents and those with compromised respiratory systems to shop an hour before regular opening time, is taking all the precautions it can.
On Tuesday afternoon, store manager Tristan Davis was busy taping off six-foot sections at the check-out lanes with blue tape, one of the social distance recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
“The thing I’ve noticed is that people are starting to shop for different things now,” Davis said. “It’s a lot of canned goods, packaged rice, pasta, things that have a shelf life. I think people are realizing they may be stuck at home at some point.”
Staying connected
Being stuck at home could have implications for New Salem Baptist Church, which for the past two weeks has been holding drive-in Sunday services.
On Wednesday, Gov. Tate Reeves issued a statewide “shelter in place” order. New Salem pastor Mel Howton said he’s not certain if that order will bring an end to his drive-in church services.
“We’re going to need some clarification on whether or not the governor’s order applies to what we are doing,” Howton said. “If we can’t continue, we’ll find another way.”
Howton’s two Sunday services usually attract about 300 people, and while he has no real head count, he said he’s been pleased with the response to the drive-in services.
“We just count the cars,” said Howton, who along with the church’s worship leader and a couple of musicians, perform an abbreviated 40-minute service from atop a flat-bed truck. “We don’t know how many people are in the cars. The first week, we had 60 cars. Last week, it was about 90.”
He’s not surprised by the response, he was quick to note.
“People want to stay connected,” he said. “They are used to worshiping together and they look to the church for guidance, especially in difficult times. It’s comforting, It’s encouraging to realize that you’re not the only one facing it. Really, that’s what the church is all about. I hope we can continue it, but if we can’t, we’ll find another way.”
That willingness to comply with the new rules of staying home and social distancing when having to go out is something Caledonia Mayor Mitch Wiggins has noticed.
“Everybody seems to be doing what they are supposed to do,” Wiggins said. “We are under the rules the county put in place and everybody seemed to follow those rules. That’s why the board (of aldermen) chose not to put our own rules in place. What we have under the county seems to be working.”
Wiggins said it’s too early to know what effect those rules have on the town’s finances.
“We won’t really have that information until next month,” he said. “But from what I’ve seen a lot of the sales tax revenue we will lose from some of the businesses being closed will be made up by Dollar General, Shop and Save and the convenience stores. They’re all doing more business. We’ll see in a few weeks what our sales tax looks like, but I’m pretty optimistic.”
Other small communities ‘taking it one day at a time’
Other small towns across the area are showing varying effects from the pandemic.
The typically social atmosphere at Ole Country Bakery in Brooksville has faded over the last couple weeks, and not just because it has seen fewer customers, whether they are locals or passing through, co-owner Sheila Decker said.
“They come in and get what they need and quickly leave, and (there’s) not a lot of interacting and camaraderie that we usually see here,” she said.
The locally-owned bakery and coffee shop just off Mississippi Highway 45 has become more of a grab-and-go eating establishment, even for its regular and local customer base, Decker said. Noxubee County has three confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of press time today.
“We’re just taking it one day at a time,” she said. “I check the bottom line every day and then decide what we’re going to do for tomorrow.”
The usually busy Breazy’s, a quick-stop restaurant in the center of Maben in Oktibbeha County, has also seen a lot less activity in the past couple weeks, owner Jennifer Breazeale said. All five employees have worked fewer hours, she said.
“There are people moving (in the) early morning and midday, the working people that are still out and about, but pretty much around 2 or 2:30 p.m., we’ve been shutting down,” she said. “There’s no movement, no vehicles going down the road. It’s like you cut the light switch out.”
Meanwhile, just across the street, Springer’s Dry Goods has seen little change. The store might have actually had more business because the locals are not driving into Starkville to shop, owner Corey Springer said.
Springer said he is unsure of how the two-week statewide “shelter in place” order starting at 5 p.m. today will affect his business, since retail clothing stores are considered nonessential,
“I’m not a boutique (owner). I sell work clothes, so whatever is essential, I may or may not have to be open. I don’t know,” he said.
Senter’s Hardware and Gifts in Macon, the Noxubee County seat, has also seen no shortage in overall business, owner Alan Senter said. Furniture and home decor have not sold well in the past couple weeks, but electrical, plumbing and other home improvement sales have been strong, he said.
“I think (people are) catching up on home projects because they need something to do and they’re taking advantage of their time,” Senter said.
Health care establishments like the City Drug Store in downtown Macon will stay open, and pharmacy employees wearing medical masks brought customers’ medications to the front door on Wednesday. Customers had to stay outside in order to keep a safe distance between themselves and the pharmacy employees, manager Bill Bell said.
Maben’s population is less than 1,000, and Springer said the people’s primary concern about COVID-19 is the effect on the local economy. Breazeale said the people passing through Breazy’s seem optimistic that the pandemic will be over soon or are generally not afraid of catching the virus.
“Most people that I’ve come in contact with are pretty much like, ‘If we get it, we get it and we can’t run from it,'” she said.
Members of a community as small as Maben reach out to each other during times of uncertainty and need, said Booter Fulgham, a member of Maben’s First Baptist Church.
“One of my friends called (Tuesday) and said, ‘Hey, I haven’t talked to you in several weeks. Are you good? Have you got plenty to eat?'” Fulgham said. “That’s what we do. We look out for one another.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.