Thursday, June 4, 2020
Coomes Recreation Center Update 6-4-2020
TOWN OF ABINGDON
133 WEST MAIN STREET · P. O. BOX 789 · ABINGDON, VIRGINIA · 24212
Coomes Recreation Center Update
Through
Executive Order 65, Governor Northam presented guidelines for businesses and
public places as we enter Phase 2 on Friday, June 5, 2020. According to the
Governor’s guidelines, fitness and exercise facilities in the Commonwealth of
Virginia must meet certain requirements to open under this phase, which include
the following.
· Social distancing at least ten (10) feet apart during all
activities.
· 30% of the minimum occupancy or 50 patrons or less.
· Lap swimming only, while maintaining ten (10) feet social
distance, with no hot tubs or spas.
· Employer responsibility for cleaning and disinfecting all shared
equipment after each use, prohibiting use of all equipment that cannot be
cleaned between each use.
Any
facility that cannot adhere to the above requirements must remain closed. Based
on these directives, the Coomes Recreation Center will remain closed during
Phase 2 as we are unable to meet the criteria to open. We recognize that our
center is an asset to our community; however, opening the facility too soon is
a disservice to our customers who will be unable to utilize all of the services
and amenities that is included in a paid membership.
The
budget for the Coomes Recreation Center is supported by the Town’s General
Fund, which has experienced a decrease in revenues during the pandemic. With
the facility closure and all memberships placed on hold, revenues generated
from the center have also been reduced.
The
Coomes Recreation Center will open its doors when we are able to provide a
basic level of service. Extensions will be provided for all memberships and
fitness pass holders. The center has a financial statement posted in regards to
how these specific accounts will be handled. Once the doors open, there will be
a phasing in of programs, services, and amenities.
As always, the health, safety, and
financial wellness of our community remains our number one priority. We
appreciate your patience and understanding.
James Morani
Town Manager
The Gallery @ Barr Photographics announces the summer installment of the Corner Gallery’s 2020 exhibition series
The Gallery @ Barr Photographics announces the summer installment of the Corner Gallery’s 2020 exhibition
series with a collection of oil or watercolor paintings entitled “Etcetera!”
by award winning, Rogersville, Tennessee artist, Carol Thomason.
In her biographical sketch Carol states, “I was born
and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, where I lived, for 57 years, until my
husband Bill and I moved to Rogersville Tennessee seven years ago. Both Bill
and I worked for the State of Mississippi Wildlife Department, after retirement
I opened a gift shop in Mississippi, where I sold gift merchandise and hand
painted ceramics and taught classes for ceramic painting. The retail gift shop
segued into a wholesale business of providing my hand painted ceramics to other
gift stores. At one time I employed seven people and sold ceramic creations to
over two hundred and twenty five stores nationally. I did trunk shows for high
end hotels and casinos in and around Mississippi, where I would sell ceramics and
personalize the works for individual customers. After five years I realized
that we were running out selves ragged and decided to get out of the wholesale
ceramic business. Shortly thereafter we moved to Rogersville, where I began
concentrate more on image production via painting 2-d images. I paint in
various media, pastel, oil, acrylic and watercolor. Recently most of my
production has been watercolor and oil, which is reflected in “Etcetera!” Now
we enjoy retirement, sitting back with a cool glass of tea and I paint on my
own schedule.”
Mrs. Thomason reveals in her artist’s statement, “Everyone
needs to take at least one hour of their day to do what they love to do,
"I call this ME" time, whether it is painting, gardening, working on
models, clay, stained glass, etc., I can usually find the time to play. I've always seemed to be drawn to my paints
and brushes even though I've tried a million different crafts. It was not until I moved to Tennessee that a
whole new world opened up with new beautiful subjects to paint. The only problem is my ME time has turned
into a lot longer than one hour on certain days! I've always heard "love what you do and
do what you love" and I've found out that painting is my passion, which
seems to be okay with my husband, so I paint away. He told me that a clean house doesn't make
memories, so I paint…a lot! Now, all I seem to want to do is travel and take
pictures so I can get started on my next painting. GOD has given us an endless supply of
subjects to paint and I'm certainly going to take advantage of it. Even though GOD is the master painter and I
will never be able to match the colors he uses, the joy of painting is in my
heart.”
“Etcetera!” will be celebrated
with a reception, gallery talk and demonstration of technique by Carol Thomason, to which the public is
cordially invited, on Friday, 12 June
from 7 - 9:00 PM in The Gallery @ Barr Photographics, 152 E. Main Street, Abingdon, Virginia. Masks and Social Distancing REQUIRED! “Etcetera!” will
hang, and be offered for sale, through 31, May. The Gallery @ Barr Photographics is housed
in the Greenway Trigg Building, located in the heart of Abingdon’s main street
historic district. Please call 276-
628-1486 or visit http://barrphotographics.com/CornerGalleryFeatureArtist.aspx?cms=9386
for further information.
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
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