By Vivian Shipe
KNOXVILLE, TN — There are those like the firefighters and police officers who run into danger, then there are those who run into the danger and stay through the storm. Two groups, medical personnel and reporters have been running into the storm called COVID-19 for the last three years. As the pandemic ends, the work they did and continue to do was acknowledged and honored at a reception held at the Public Works Center.
Media representatives from all local organizations were invited to come and leave their cameras in the car and relax and be recognized. During the reception, they were acknowledged for their service in keeping the public informed; reminding people when it was safe to go out and when it wasn’t, keeping up with hospitalizations and reporting on deaths, and always, giving locations of vaccine clinics. It was at the clinics where you always found the doctors and nurses, nurses from the hospitals, health departments, private duty nurses, nurse practitioners, and nursing sororities.
All around the walls of the center hung pictures reminding those in attendance of the work done with passion and dedication. Photos of nurses giving shots in the dead of winter with melting snow all around them as they gave shots in drive thru vaccine clinics, always serving, from shot events as small as 5 to as large as 1000 attendees. They went everywhere, into homeless camps, on the side of the road, in church parking lots, senior centers, event centers; it didn’t matter, they were there giving of their time with one goal in mind: shots in arms.
During the time of reflection at the program, Bonnie Graham, President of the Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority explained why they did what they did for thousands of citizens over the last three years and counting. “We are so pleased to know we had a small part to play in keeping some of our people alive during these times, including ourselves”. We were happy to help spread the word about the importance of being vaccinated.”
The reception also recognized Larry Blair with Intimate Moments with Blair for his social media concerts during the lock down. His uplifting weekly songs of encouragement drew hundreds of viewers each week from across the country. Blair performed a special in person concert for the reception.
Youth who worked putting out flyers, signage and who served at many different events over the years were also recognized as were several community leaders. Community organizations also showed their love and appreciation. Food was catered by one of Knoxville’s top restaurants, Ola’s Southern Cuisine 2, gifts were created by Janell Strong, Mary Kay Director, and dessert came from local bakery Ham N Goody’s.
It was a welcome opportunity to lay aside the cameras, microphones uniforms, gloves and masks and just exhale.
There were no regrets expressed by anyone over the long hours, lost time with families, or personal risks.
President Graham ended her remarks and the reception saying, “We would do it again, and again, and again”.
Hopefully not in another pandemic.
