AREA TOWNS – Calais Elementary School students got a surprise ending to the school year when an extreme heat forecast for Monday and Tuesday, June 23 and 24 caused the Washington Central Unified Union School District to announce the closing during the school day on Friday, with Principal Steven Dellinger-Pate writing “This means that today is our final school day and all students will be out for the summer. It has been a wonderful year and we appreciate the hard work and learning that our students have done this year. . . Thank you and have a safe summer.”
courtesy photo
In Greensboro, Karl Stein, the town’s health officer, who serves on Hardwick rescue and with the Medical Reserve Corps, and Helen Beattie with Hardwick’s Neighbor to Neighbor, joined with Keisha Luce, director of Highland Center for the Arts to prepare and open that facility, as a cooling center, staffed with volunteers, during the heat advisory.
Visitors to the facility were offered food and cool drinks during their visit and had the opportunity to take in the art show on the gallery walls, or use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet.
Transportation was offered from Hardwick through Kristen Leahy at the town office there.
Stein said they were prepared to provide space for up to 500 people to sleep overnight at the HCA, with its backup generator, if power failed.
In Hardwick, the library welcomed visitors to its air conditioned space during its regular hours.
Plainfield’s Town Hall Opera House opened as a cooling center from 1 to 6 p.m. both days, with Wi-Fi, an accessible bathroom, and comfortable chairs and tables.
While the cooling facilities were only lightly used, the events gave emergency response networks, created after the last several year’s floods, an opportunity to test their ability to respond, said Stein and Beattie.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
