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Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society

A picture of a 2020 grad wearing a face mask as a COVID-19 precaution, submitted to the “COVID-19 in Georgia” project.

Here in Savannah, historical institutions are working to preserve varied documentary materials – ranging from snapshots of family members wearing face masks to emergency government orders – that will allow future researchers to learn in-depth details about what life was like in 2020, firm in the knowledge that traces from this year that are archived today will be regarded as valuable relics a few generations from now.

“We need to recognize that what we’re living through is history,” said Patricia Meagher, director of communications for the Savannah-based Georgia Historical Society. “It is so important right now to collect things that people see. … We know it’s going to be such a valuable resource for historians and documentarians to see what life was like in Ardsley Park or Pooler.”

Established in 1839, the Georgia Historical Society already keeps meticulous records of contemporary goings-on around the state for the benefit of future researchers on a regular basis. However, when the coronavirus pandemic first forced Savannah Mayor Van Johnson to issue a citywide shelter-at-home order in March, causing GHS employees to work remotely from home, Meagher and her colleagues came to realize how important it would be to create easily accessible records of what 2020 was bringing.

Early on during the COVID-19 crisis, GHS staff was inundated with requests about how Georgia authorities dealt with the 1918 Flu Pandemic, also known as the Spanish flu. Without access to the GHS library and archives of hard-copy documents, many of these requests could not be immediately answered by the home-bound staffers.

“We had very little that was digitized about Spanish flu in Georgia,” Meagher said, noting that this lack of access highlighted contemporary society’s rapid shift in technology, and gave the GHS staff inspiration about how to preserve details about 2020’s pandemic in a way that future historians could rapidly attain them. “That kind of helped inform what we were doing, and how we would go about it.”

One issue that GHS staff had to contend with is the relatively small percentage of records that are created as hard-copy documents nowadays, with so much of modern information only being presented and preserved digitally. While this technology allows massive amounts of documentation to be stored in tiny memory devices, it also decreases the chances that future historians will have easy access to relevant photos, official records, and other media.

“Those are the things that documentarians are going to come looking for,” Meagher said. “Do we really think that when we’re gone, somebody’s going to go through a cloud drive?” To address this conundrum, the GHS launched its “COVID-19 in Georgia” project, aiming to create a wide-ranging database of photographs, written records, audio or video recordings, and other documentary materials that the staff can compile into one platform that will be readily available for future historians to research.

“We’re so fortunate to receive things that 100 years from now are going to tell the stories” of 2020, Meagher said, adding that the records chosen for this project are not restricted to official papers or professional-quality photographs. “We received a huge collection of digital pictures that were drawn by children in the Atlanta area.”

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Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society

A distinctively 2020 picture submitted to the “COVID-19 in Georgia” project.

“It may be used in future research. It may be used right now to promote this,” Meagher said. “Everything is being uploaded to us digitally.”

Similarly, Savannah’s Municipal Archives department in City Hall is also launching an initiative for city staff members to provide documentation chronicling the unique challenges of 2020.

“In 20, 50, 100 years, if somebody says, ‘What did the city do in response to the pandemic,’ we will have the materials,” said Municipal Archives Director Luciana Spracher. Since April, Spracher and her team – ordinarily charged with preserving Savannah’s official documents and City Council records – have been collecting extra materials related to the city’s reactions to the pandemic, as well as to demonstrations in support of racial equality and to other momentous occasions of this year. Soon Municipal Archives will also be requesting that city staff members volunteer their own recollections from 2020, either about how their duties were affected or about their own lives.

“It can be about work, it can be about their personal family life. … We can capture some of these firsthand experiences and thoughts,” Spracher said. “What we’ve done is basically send out reminders to departments to start sending us information.” While official-record management remains the primary task of the Municipal Archives department, Spracher sees personal recollections of city staff in 2020 as potentially being an invaluable resource for future researchers.

“This is a bigger event that’s touching everybody’s life. … It’s also changed the way we work every day,” Spracher said. “We’ve had employees that have had COVID. What was that experience like?”

And although Spracher will never meet the historians of upcoming generations who draw on the work of her department to learn what really happened during 2020, she and her team feel honored to be playing the crucial role of preserving future artifacts that will make this research possible.

“We know this is going to be used,” Spracher said of the records of 2020 currently being collected. “To be part of documenting and preserving this historic moment in time, it’s exciting, and sobering.”

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Nick Robertson/Connect Savannah

LEFT: Republican U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler campaigns in Thunderbolt on Dec. 12. RIGHT: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rapahel Warnock visits his childhood home in Savannah on Dec. 18.

Democrat Raphael Warnock, a Savannah native, is challenging incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, while Republican Senator David Perdue is defending his seat against Democrat Jon Ossoff. All four candidates in Georgia’s nationally prominent Senate runoffs – which will determine the balance of power in Washington D.C. for the next two years – have visited Chatham County in recent weeks.

On Dec. 31, the Warnock campaign confirmed that he plans to appear with Democratic Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris during a drive-up rally in Savannah on Sunday, Jan. 3, along with Ossoff. Warnock and Ossoff also appeared together at a Dec. 19 rally in Garden City that featured acclaimed hip-hop artist Common.

Meanwhile, both Loeffler and Perdue have been visiting Chatham recently, appearing together at a private fundraiser at the Forest City Gun Club on Dec. 12, before Loeffler joined three other sitting U.S. Senators for a campaign stop at Tubby’s Tank House in Thunderbolt that afternoon. Loeffler returned to Savannah to appear at a rally on Wednesday, Dec. 30.

“Georgia has red clay, not blue clay,” Loeffler told supporters at the Dec. 30 rally to rebuff assertions that Georgia is turning into a Democratic-leaning state. “Are you ready to show America that Georgia is a red state?”

During the last week of December, the Warnock campaign began airing an advertisement called “Son of Savannah” to emphasize his local roots, highlighting his upbringing in the Kayton Homes housing project and his graduating from Sol C. Johnson High School. The ad mentions that it’s been 150 years since a Savannah native was elected to the U.S. Senate.

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Nick Robertson/Connect Savannah

Early voters line up to cast their ballots at the Savannah Civic Center.

Early voting concludes in Chatham on Dec. 31, having yielded a significant number of ballots cast well before the Jan. 5 runoff-election day, according to Chatham County Election Supervisor Russell Bridges. As of the early afternoon of Dec. 31, 37,863 early votes were cast by Chatham residents, while 23,954 absentee ballots have been submitted, Bridges said.

About 700 people have been hired to work at Chatham polling locations on Jan. 5, and while Bridges expects strong turnout on election day, he believes that poll workers will be well prepared to handle the volume of ballots cast.

“We had a good turnout on election day. It didn’t tax the polls,” Bridges said, adding that COVID-19 precautions would be in place on Jan. 5 just like in all other elections during 2020. “We have put COVID methods into the polls, and now they’ve had several elections with that.”

Bridges said that Chatham County election workers have performed heroically amid the trying circumstances of 2020, which saw Georgia’s primary elections postponed twice to June 9, and a higher-than-usual turnout for the Nov. 3 general election. Chatham also conducted multiple primary-runoff elections and recounts, including two recounts of the Nov. 3 results.

“We’ve been on a steady treadmill the entire year,” Bridges said, adding that the county’s entire elections staff has performed admirably in their roles. “I have an extremely strong, very organized, very good team of people. … They have really carried the lion’s share of the work all year long.”

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Courtesy of the Dewitt Tilton Group

Employees of the Dewitt Tilton Group lend a helping hand.

SD Gunner Fund pays pediatric debts for struggling families

The SD Gunner Fund is a volunteer organization aiming to help local families in need. After hearing about Chatterbox Pediatric Therapy’s request to help families pay off medical bills, the group came to the rescue by covering over $8,500 in medical expenses for ten families of Chatterbox patients. “Today was truly a holiday blessing,” said SD Gunner Fund Founder Britnee Kinard.

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Courtesy of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Cora Bett Thomas Realty

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Cora Bett Thomas Realty offers a $2,500 donation to Senior Citizens, Inc.

A $2,500 donation to Senior Citizens, Inc.

Senior Citizens, Inc. is a nonprofit organization providing local elders with a variety of services such as transportation, in-home care, and delivered meals. With a donation of $2,500 provided by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Cora Bett Thomas Realty, Senior Citizens, Inc. had its resources boosted to assist those who might not have been able to enjoy a warm meal over the holidays.

Sterling Seacrest Partners supports local nonprofits

Carrying on their annual “12 Days of Christmas” holiday-season charity drive this year, the risk-management and insurance-brokerage firm Sterling Seacrest Partners encouraged employees to contribute specific items to benefit varied nonprofit organizations. The firm also reached out to local nonprofit Urban Hope to organize a contest for children to illustrate what Christmas means to them, and provided contributions to every child who submitted an artwork.

A $500,000 donation to the Georgia Historical Society Endowment

The family of Laurie Kimball Abbott and Jane Maud Harty Abbott donated $500,000 to the Georgia Historical Society Endowment in recognition of the couple’s philanthropic efforts. The Abbotts were active members of many organizations, including the Georgia Historical Society, where Mr. Abbott served on the Board of Curators and as President from 2002-2004. Mrs. Abbott, who established the GHS Laurie K. Abbott Endowment Fund, died in May of 2020.

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Courtesy of SCAD

The Savannah College of Art and Design offered gifts to the Union Mission.

Over 100 gifts donated to Savannah’s Union Mission

For over 25 years, the Savannah College of Art and Design has partnered with Savannah’s Union Mission to provide presents for children and their families while they are either experiencing homelessness or struggling to provide for themselves. This year SCAD donated clothing, toys, books, electronics, bicycles, and more to these families in need, spreading some much needed holiday cheer.

A donation of $1,000 to Backpacks of Love

For the second year in a row, the Dewitt Tilton Group supported Backpacks of Love’s fight to eliminate hunger among school-aged children living in Bryan County by donating $1,000 toward their cause. Along with providing this funding, Dewitt Tilton Group employees also lent a hand in assembling food packages that were provided to underprivileged schoolchildren and their families.

A donation of hand sanitizer for local churches

Doing its part to help keep the ongoing coronavirus pandemic at bay, the team behind the region’s ExperCARE urgent-care facilities spread holiday cheer by providing over 3,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to 25 different churches in the Savannah and Richmond Hill area. “We want everyone to do their part to keep safe during the holidays and we’re happy to help in this small way,” said ExperCARE CEO Catherine Grant.

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Courtesy of Savannah Maritime After Hours

Savannah Maritime After Hours presents a $1,000 check to Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Coastal Empire.

A local group of maritime and port-logistics workers called Savannah Maritime After Hours provided a $1,000 donation to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Coastal Empire this holiday season. The group decided to donate the remaining money left over from events they hosted this year as a way to give back to their community. This marks the seventh consecutive year that the maritime workers have supported RMHC during the holidays.

Savannah’s 7th-annual Holiday Kids Bike Giveaway

Local nonprofit organizations Bike Walk Savannah and Blessings in a Book Bag joined forces to provide area children with bikes, protective helmets, and safety tips on how to bike safely around the neighborhood. Bike Walk Savannah – an organization dedicated to improving conditions for area cyclists and pedestrians – regularly accepts used children’s bicycles and fixes them up to be donated, with Blessings in a Book Bag identifying the kids in need.

A canned-food donation for America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia

For the 13th year in a row, employees of Savannah’s municipal government collected canned food to donate to the America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia food bank, which has been striving to meet increased demand amid the pandemic’s economic hardships. “People who need food now are unlike those who have ever needed it before, and the fact of the matter is, regardless of your pay scale, if you need to eat, you need to eat,” said Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.

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Nick Robertson/Connect Savannah

Phase 1 of Savannah's Tiny House Project, the Cove at Dundee.

The funds will go directly toward the construction costs for Phase 2 of the Tiny House Project. During Phase 1 of the initiative, completed in fall of 2019, the Cove at Dundee was constructed in Eastside Savannah with 23 fully equipped tiny homes now occupied by formerly homeless veterans, who have access to an onsite clubhouse, walking paths, and a small medical clinic.

Phase 2 of the project will provide 24 more fully furnished homes and a second clubhouse for laundry, community meetings, and access to classes and supportive services provided by CSAH staff and community partners. CSAH anticipates that Phase 2 will be completed in 2021.

“We are honored to have Truist’s financial support for the Tiny House Project,” said Cindy Kelley, executive director of CSAH. “The pandemic continues to put additional stress on our community’s meager supply of affordable housing, so we are especially thankful for their assistance during this time.”

Savannah’s Tiny House Project is Georgia’s first effort dedicated to reducing veteran homelessness by providing a community of permanent, affordable tiny homes that occupants rent for $240 per month, utilities included, according to CSAH. Visit homelessauthority.org/tiny-house-project for more details.

Courtesy of the Tybee Post Theater

Tybee Post Theater projectionist Steve Johnson demonstrates how to participate in the Jan. 1, 2021 virtual Polar Plunge.

Held annually as a fundraiser to support the Tybee Post Theater, the Polar Plunge ordinarily welcomes hundreds of hardy souls in wild costumes to start the New Year by wading into the Atlantic along a stretch of beach adjacent to Tybee Island’s pier. However, in early November organizers announced that the Polar Plunge would be held virtually because Tybee Island’s municipal government is currently not issuing event permits to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at mass gatherings.

For the virtual Polar Plunge, participants on Tybee Island are still welcome to individually take a chilly dip anywhere along the shoreline and submit photos or videos of their feat, while anyone who wants to participate from anywhere else can do the same, according to Tybee Post Theater Executive Director Melissa Turner.

“We wanted to do the Polar Plunge because it’s a Tybee tradition, and it has been for 22 years now,” Turner said, adding that the event has grown so popular that holding it amid the ongoing pandemic would pose too much of a risk of it becoming a super-spreader event. “We didn’t want to encourage thousands of people out there on the pier. … I hope people don’t go there and expect a big party and a parade and all that.”

Some online news sources have incorrectly stated that Polar Plunge participants can take part in the event either virtually or by joining others at the Tybee pier on New Year's Day. Turner said that anyone who visits the pier on Jan. 1 will find no organized Polar Plunge events occurring.

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Courtesy of the Tybee Post Theater

Kathy Black-Dennis with Friends of the Tybee Theater demonstrates how to participate in the Jan. 1, 2021 virtual Polar Plunge.

But while the usual Polar Plunge antics will not be held at the pier on New Year’s Day, the Tybee Post Theater is carrying on its tradition of selling Polar Plunge long-sleeved T-shirts.

“The sales have gone so well, I just placed an emergency order for more shirts,” Turner said, noting that the shirts can be shipped to event supporters.

According to Turner, this fundraiser is crucial for the ongoing operations of the Tybee Post Theater, which has already lost considerable revenue after closing for much of 2020 because of the pandemic. In November and December, the theater screened a series of Christmas movies with limited capacity to allow for social distancing among the audience and other COVID-19 precautions, but currently there are no plans for the theater to reopen until the pandemic subsides.

Nonetheless, Turner hopes that the virtual Polar Plunge will still provide the Tybee community with a much-needed lighthearted event to begin 2021.

“It’s just one of those happy things that you don’t want to miss in a year like this,” Turner said.

Visit tybeeposttheater.org/tybee-polar-plunge for more information about participating in Tybee's virtual Polar Plunge.

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According to a press release issued by Savannah’s Salvation Army branch on Dec. 23, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused requests for the organization’s services to rise precipitously in Chatham County, while donations to the annual Red Kettle Campaign have been lagging this holiday season.

However, while Dec. 24 is the last day for area residents to assist the Salvation Army at a physical red-kettle donation station around Savannah, an online portal will continue to accept offerings that will specifically help Chatham County beneficiaries until Dec. 31.

“The Red Kettle Campaign is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and it is imperative we meet our goal,” said Major Paul Egan with the Salvation Army of Savannah. “Since March, our organization has provided more than 23,000 meals, safe shelter to 5,285 individuals, and emotional and spiritual support to over 150 people in need. We have worked tirelessly to help children, families and individuals who were and still are struggling financially, emotionally, and spiritually.”

Egan added that economic hardships caused by the pandemic are straining the Salvation Army’s resources.

“This holiday season, our organization has seen a greater need for our services − more than any in recent history,” Egan said.

Salvation Army leadership is asking anyone who can donate to the Red Kettle Campaign to visit RedKettleSAV.givesmart.com before Dec. 31, while the organization’s other digital donation platforms include Apple Pay and Google Pay, or any amount can be given by texting “RedKettleSAV” to 76278.

“Our organization could serve up to 155% more people in Christmas assistance due to COVID-19,” Egan said. “We have made if safer and simpler to donate in order to support those in need of help and hope in the Coastal Empire. Every dollar goes straight back to the Savannah community.”

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Created by Lisa Brown, the Savannah-born executive director of the anti-bullying nonprofit organization Save Our Next Generation (S.O.N.G.), the “Ballin to Stop Bullying” challenge was created as a fun and pandemic-safe way to raise awareness of bullying among children from elementary- to high-school age. Brown said that during the pandemic, many bullying victims have felt increasingly isolated, and she hopes that this online movement will help show them that people care.

“They’re not forgotten in the midst of this pandemic,” Brown said.

People who want to take part in the challenge need only make a recording of themselves doing any basketball maneuver – from slam dunks to granny shots – and say “I pledge to stand up and speak out against bullying,” and then post the video on social media with the #ballintostopbullying hashtag.

“Anybody can do it, down to a little two-year-old,” Brown said.

In addition to asking the general public to participate, Brown is working to enlist professional basketball players around the world to get the challenge going on Dec. 25, including former Harlem Globetrotter Larry “Gator” Rivers, a Savannah resident and incoming Chatham County Commission member.

Among other activities, S.O.N.G. organizes an annual anti-bullying rally in Hinesville every October, although the 2020 event had to be canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Brown hopes that the “Ballin to Stop Bullying” challenge will help fundraising efforts to bring back the S.O.N.G. rally tradition in 2021.

“We’re a small organization with big plans,” Brown said.

Visit songofliberty.org to learn more about S.O.N.G. and the “Ballin to Stop Bullying” challenge.

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Nick Robertson/Connect Savannah

Dr. Lawton Davis, Coastal Health District health director

The administration of the COVID-19 vaccine is currently in phase 1a, meaning that coronavirus inoculations are prioritized for frontline healthcare workers as well as staff and residents of long-term care facilities.

While this process is underway, Chatham County Health will only be providing essential services made by appointment. Essential services include Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) treatments, childhood immunizations required for school attendance, infectious disease services (STD/TB/HIV), contraception services, and child dental services.

Additionally, many existing appointments may be rescheduled.

“All of the services we provide are important to people in our community, and we understand this is inconvenient,” said Dr. Lawton Davis, CHD health director. “But with limited staffing and resources, our focus must be on administration of this potentially life-saving vaccine.”

Appointments for essential services at the CHD Midtown Clinic (1602 Drayton St., Savannah) can be arranged by calling 912-651-3378, or at the Eisenhower Clinic (1395 Eisenhower Dr., Savannah) by calling 912-356-2441.

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Taylor Clayton/Connect Savannah

Chatham County residents line up to vote early on Dec. 15 at the Board of Registrars office.

Voters started visiting Chatham County’s five early-voting locations when they first opened on Dec. 14, and by Dec. 19, a total of 16,146 ballots were cast at these polling sites, German said.

Lines of voters stretched around the Board of Registrars office polling location during the first days of early voting, but by the afternoon of Dec. 17, there was no wait to vote at the Savannah Civic Center polling site.

German said that the number of workers and COVID-19 precautions in place at each early-voting site were “about the same” as during early-voting procedures for Chatham’s Nov. 3 general election.

Meanwhile, by Dec. 21 the Chatham County Registrars’ office had sent out 40,532 absentee ballots for the Jan. 5 U.S. Senate runoff, with 7,375 of them returned by Dec. 18, according to German.

There are ten absentee-ballot drop-box locations around Chatham County, where filled-out mail-in votes can be dropped off up until 7 p.m. on Jan. 5. On Dec. 16, the newest drop-box location was established at Savannah’s Pennsylvania Avenue Resource Center at 425 Pennsylvania Ave.

Early voting continues in Chatham County through Dec. 31, which is also the last day to request an absentee ballot; visit voter.chathamcountyga.gov for more details, or see the Connect Savannah early-voting guide.

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Jann Lane

The pristine marshland on Ossabaw Island will provide plenty of serene scenery to drink in on the first morning of 2021.

During the organization’s “Wild Night on Ossabaw” celebration, participants will spend the night of New Year’s Eve out on Ossabaw Island, one of Chatham County’s largest uninhabited nature preserves. A world removed from Savannah’s downtown scene, Ossabaw will welcome fresh-air fanatics to learn about the island’s conservation efforts, history, and natural habitat while staying at camp-like accommodations until the first morning of 2021.

The journey will begin on the afternoon of Dec. 31 at Delegal Marina on Skidaway Island, where a pontoon boat will transport guests from the mainland to drop them off at Ossabaw Island’s north end. There travelers can check into their quarters and either take part in an interpretive walking tour led by party host and Ossabaw Island Executive Director Elizabeth DuBose, or explore the island on their own.

“Ossabaw is Georgia’s first heritage preserve, and that designation gives it the highest level of protection afforded by Georgia’s Heritage Preserve Act of 1975,” said DuBose. “It’s 26,000 acres − and it’s clearly undeveloped − and it was set aside for natural scientific research, cultural research, and educational purposes.”

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Fran Lapolla

The smokehouse on Ossabaw Island is one of several heritage buildings remaining on this mostly undeveloped island.

These distinctions make the island a difficult place for just anyone to visit. DuBose and the Ossabaw Island Foundation feel that putting on events such as the “Wild Night on Ossabaw” and others, are a good way to educate people and bring awareness to the island while raising funds for conservation efforsts.

“It’s really a taste of Ossabaw, hoping that they will want to come back,” said DuBose. “Whether it’s a photography workshop or maybe a turtle overnight stay − spend two nights on the island and learn about the nesting sea turtles − or indigo-dyeing workshop. It’s kind of like the introduction to Ossabaw, but staying overnight.”

After spending the last day of 2020 enjoying the soothing peace of nature, guests will savor a sundown farm-to-table dinner featuring varied Southern side dishes, cake for dessert, s’mores by the campfire, and a champagne toast to celebrate the New Year. Everything to be experienced on this excursion will have a nugget of history attached to it, even the food.

Back in 1924, Ossabaw Island was purchased by Dr. Henry Norton Torrey and Nell Ford Torrey, a couple who lived in Michigan and wanted a Georgia home for spending their winters. In 1978, their daughter Eleanor “Sandy” Torrey West led the family’s negotiations in selling the island to the state of Georgia for $8 million, half of the appraised value. After the sale, Sandy lived on her 23-acre estate on the island from 1987 until 2016, when she moved to Savannah, where she still lives at 108 years old.

“We’ll have traditional greens for money and black-eyed peas for good luck, and we also serve a mystery cake, which was the favorite dessert served by Sandy West’s mother,” said DuBose.

Due to the pandemic, “Wild Night on Ossabaw” accommodations are limited to ensure social distancing, but campers can bring tents and camp at a designated campsite.

Visit ossabawisland.org/visit/overnight-trips for more details on this event and future Ossabaw Island Foundation excursions.