Well, 2020 is now in the record books. For many, the year will be synonymous with the pandemic that ravaged the world. But there were plenty of other things going on as well. This week, we look at 2020 in Gloucester. Next week, we’ll focus on happenings in Mathews County.

JANUARY: Eighty-three different species are spotted as members of the Middle Peninsula Bird Club take part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count … Food Ministry at Union Baptist Church, Achilles, enters 17th year … Andy James reflects on a career of public service; Gloucester County fire chief for nearly three decades and two terms as Gloucester County supervisor … Gloucester deputies sporting new uniforms … Phillip Bazzani is elected chairman and Kevin Smith, vice chairman, of the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors for 2020 … The board of directors of Arts On Main in Gloucester purchase the Gloucester gallery from the organization’s founder and former director, Kay Van Dyke … Gloucester County’s Community Engagement department expands to include a Public Information component; Gloria Williams is overseeing the Community Engagement Coordinators in each of the seven schools, managing the Cable Communications Partnership Program and overseeing the county’s public information and brandishing initiatives, and Quinton Sheppard is the new Public Information and Marketing Coordinator … C.W. Miller steps down as Assistant Chief of GVFR Station Four at Harcum after 42 years in that leadership position … Gloucester resident Elsie Bright celebrates her 108th birthday … The Class of 2020 valedictorian and salutatorian may be the last Gloucester High School students to have those scholarship designations; they may be eliminated for the Class of 2021 … Makayla Calloway, a sophomore at Gloucester High School, is crowned International Junior Miss Virginia Teen 2020 … Gloucester County School Board reelects Robin Rice as its chair and Elisa Nelson as vice chairman … Leah King, store manager of the Gloucester Food Lion, is selected Divisional Manager of Year … GibsonSingleton Virginia Injury Attorneys collects more than 675 coats from donors in the community during the firm’s annual coat drive … Pauline Harris, the oldest member of Bethany United Methodist Church, Gloucester Point, celebrates her 100th birthday.

FEBRUARY: A new Virginia historical marker honoring the late Irene Morgan is dedicated at the marker’s location at 2425 Hayes Road, Gloucester … Jennifer Odum, a native of Gloucester and 2007 Gloucester High School graduate, approaches two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Jamaica … Benjamin Borden Jr. is presented a resolution to commend his 27 years of dedicated service to the Gloucester County Historical Committee … Gloucester Social Services opens career center to help job seekers … Elizabeth Barrett, a Gloucester resident, makes it to the final stage of “The Price is Right,” winning more than $40,000 in prizes … The Gloucester County Board of Supervisors opts not to allow for timbering of approximately 20 acres of Beaverdam Park land … Guinea Heritage Association celebrates Buck’s Store centennial … A four-year, $55 million renovation and expansion project at Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester is now complete … Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Montross) presents C.W. Miller a copy of remarks made in Congress to acknowledge and honor Miller for his 56 years of service to Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue.

MARCH: Transportation and road improvement projects dominate Gloucester board meeting … Virginians give former Vice President Joe Biden a big win in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary, winning over half of the 1.3 million-plus votes cast statewide … Gloucester Housing Partnership Inc. receives a $10,000 unrestricted grant from the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters Foundation … A total of 494 runners take part in Gloucester Educational Run/Walk at Gloucester High School … Gloucester Montessori School students take advantage of some good weather to get an early start on Clean Gloucester Day, picking up trash along Route 17, north of Gloucester Court House … Peasley Middle School eighth grader Lauren King places second in the Virginia Media Spelling Bee … With the spread of COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, we enter a new normal … at least for the foreseeable future; county offices and buildings to remain closed to the public through March 31 in response to the spread of COVID-19; Daffodil Festival canceled; public gathering ban in place … Harry Lee Walker, 29, of Hampton, dies in Route 17 accident … Riverside prepared to handle whatever lies ahead … Chaplain Robert Clements is honored for his 60 years of membership in American Legion Post 75 … With public schools closed, Gloucester County continues to offer breakfast and lunch for students at Abingdon, Achilles, Petsworth and Gloucester High schools … Governor bans public gatherings of more than 10; K-12 schools closed for year … Gloucester records first positive COVID-19 cases … Jackson Stuart Peach Lowther of Gloucester graduates from State Police Academy.

APRIL: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Gloucester County takes an upswing, reporting six cases … American Legion Boys and Girls State programs are canceled for 2020 due to the virus … The Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust and the Gloucester Revolving Loan Fund launch a zero-interest emergency loan program for restaurant, retail, hospitality and personal service businesses along Gloucester’s Main Street … Census continues in spite of virus; some businesses adapt, others forced to close their doors temporarily, during virus outbreak; cash toll collection removed at Coleman Bridge … Piper Hicks, 10, of Gloucester, wins CHKD T-shirt design contest … Unemployment claims in Gloucester and Mathews more than triple from February, due to COVID-19 outbreak … A heart for helping people; Alicia Marsh, Gloucester’s first COVID-19 fatality remembered … Page Middle School teacher Brian Teucke is selected as the Gloucester school division’s Teacher of the Year … Dr. Peter E. Wilcox of the Wilcox Eye Center, Hayes, adopts “a new revolutionary technology” to help glaucoma patients monitor their eye pressure … Firefighters from throughout the region line both sides of Gloucester’s Main Street to pay tribute to former Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue Chief Andy James, who dies on April 23 … Kate Coles James, founder and board chair of The Gloucester Institute and president of The Heritage Foundation, and Jenny Crittenden, executive director of the Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust, are appointed by Gov. Ralph Northam to Virginia’s statewide COVID-19 Business Task Force … People delaying emergency care in age of coronavirus.

MAY: Gloucester County Board of Supervisors approve a $69.57 million budget for FY21 … Robert Kelly is the new coordinator for Gloucester’s Museum of History … Daniel M. Dix, 46, of Gloucester Point, dies in single-car accident … Free Wi-Fi available in parking lots of Gloucester schools … Gloucester County taxpayers will get a brief reprieve in this year’s tax cycle, as the board of supervisors approve an ordinance postponing the imposition of late fees on real estate and personal property payments until Aug. 14 … Local COVID-19 numbers remain stable … In honor of National Nursing Home Week, Sanders Retirement Village, Gloucester, holds parade to celebrate its residents and staff … Face masks become mandatory, due to COVID-19.

JUNE: A second solar power generating facility is proposed for Gloucester County … Peaceful protests against racism … Gloucester High School graduates 414 seniors over five days of brief commencement ceremonies; Justin Burgess is valedictorian and Daniel Hook is salutatorian … Teachers of Botetourt Elementary School drive around Gloucester in a parade fashion saying goodbye to their students after the school year was cut short for COVID-19 concerns … The Gloucester Board of Supervisors votes unanimously to appropriate $512,000 of COVID-19 Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds to support local businesses through a program of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission … Downtown Dollars program infuses $40,000 into Main Street businesses; it’s an innovative economic recovery program spearheaded by the Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust and made possible through a substantial gift from Dr. Ron Haggerty and his wife Katherine Haggerty and an anonymous donor … A celebration of Juneteenth is held at the First United Baptist Church recognizing the day on June 19, 1865 when word finally reached enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War was over and they were now free … Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue personnel respond to early morning fire at Andrews Funeral Home on Main Street; fire contained to the attic and second floor of the building … Wyvonnia “Bunny” Carter steps down after 45-year career teaching in the classroom.

JULY: A total of 464 people take test for the COVID-19 virus during a drive-through at Gloucester High School … 2020 Guinea Jubilee is canceled … Katherine Byrd of Gloucester wins $500,000 after scratching a $500,000 Ca$h Cha$er ticket from the Virginia Lottery … Gloucester sees more than 50 percent increase in coronavirus cases … House Joint Resolution No. 305 of the Virginia General Assembly, honors Ellis Hall, 102, as a businessman, a veteran and a member of the Gloucester community … Gloucester County School Board votes to conduct the first nine weeks of the 2020-2021 school year virtually … Second COVID-19 fatality listed in Gloucester … Ware Academy to resume in-person classes Aug. 10 … Gloucester High School history teacher and author Mike Cecere finishes his 16th book just months after the publication of his 15th book.

AUGUST: Tropical Storm Isaias quickly passes through the counties causing wind damage, power outages; a suspected tornado touches down on Aberdeen Creek Road … Bessie Berry of Hayes turns 100 … Ware Academy students are back in the classroom … Cheryl Spivey, a certified public accountant with more than 30 years’ experience in Virginia and North Carolina public finance, is named Gloucester County’s Chief Financial Officer … Walter Reed Convalescent Center experiences COVID-19 outbreak … Gloucester Board of Supervisors approves $520,618 for distance learning … Alexis and Sean Powell II, co-owners of The Nurtury on Gloucester Main Street, publish their book, “The Tales of the Hedge Twins” … In-person voting for 2020 election begins Sept. 18 … The Virginia Department of Transportation to add turn lanes to Gloucester Court House intersection … Smithfield Baptist Church hands over its building to its daughter church, the Church of Abraham.

SEPTEMBER: Gloucester Board of Supervisors vote to approve a resolution designed to protect the rights of gun owners, by stating the county would not enforce the recent gun restriction laws passed by the Virginia General Assembly … A panel of three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vote 2-1 in support of a federal district court’s 2019 finding that the Gloucester School Board discriminated against Gloucester High School graduate Gavin Grimm … Work begins on a mural on Gloucester Main Street to celebrate the life and legacy of T.C. Walker … Two horses perish in a barn fire on Friends Road in the Guinea area … Arts on Main in Gloucester receives a $15,000 check from the Cook Foundation of Gloucester, for securing matching contributions from “never-before” friends and donors during the past fiscal year … Jim and Cat Camillucci spot a white squirrel on Botetourt Avenue, about a block off Gloucester’s Main Street … A new firehouse on Gloucester Main Street may still be several years in the making, but the plans are shaping up, and demolition of existing structures to make way for the new building on the horizon … Virtual classes start in Gloucester … Fairfield Foundation acquires three parcels totaling seven acres adjacent the Walter Reed Birthplace in Belroi, to protect this historic landscape in perpetuity … Gloucester Board of Supervisors increases funds available for the Back to Business grant program by another $500,000 … The harmful algal bloom Alexandrium is spotted in York River and Mobjack Bay … Robert Lindsay-Cruz, 50, of Williamsburg, dies in accident east of Crab Thicket Road, Gloucester; he is the third traffic fatality for the year … Bay Transit, the public transportation division of Bay Aging, partners with Gloucester County to provide expanded services on its popular “Courthouse Circulator” and “hiveXpress” flexible fixed-route buses in Gloucester … 48 new students and six new faculty and staff members at Ware Academy.

OCTOBER: The Cook Foundation enters into a loan agreement with Arts on Main to pay for a major renovation of the gallery space on Main Street … Donald Sandridge of Gloucester Point is appointed to Rappahannock Community College’s local board … Woodville Rosenwald School Foundation gets tax-exempt status … Demolition of the old Calvin Hotel in Gloucester Court House begins … All Gloucester students to return to classrooms by mid-November … No Gloucester holiday parade this year … Real estate boom during pandemic leaves agents scrambling … Gloucester’s Wi-Fi on Wheels bus is rolling in county neighborhoods … A detail of Michael Rosato’s T.C. Walker mural shows the trial of a 14-year-old girl. Walker was inspired to study law after he saw the trial in Gloucester courthouse convicting a young Negro girl for housebreaking and larceny; he felt a bitter sense of injustice being done … Gloucester Sheriff’s Office Capt. John Schick Jr. is leaving his post for a new position as the chief of police in Canyon City, Colorado.

NOVEMBER: Gloucester residents approve a local referendum that will allow the county to impose a 1 percent sales tax to pay for capital needs in the school division; Gloucester voters endorse Republican candidates on ballot … All children in Gloucester County Public Schools who have chosen to attend school on the hybrid model will be back in school … Gloucester County appoints Maria Calloway to serve as Fiscal Services Manager in Fiscal Services Department; Christine Joyce as the new Purchasing Manager in Purchasing Department … Linda Hodges of Mathews is appointed as Executive Director of the Middle Peninsula-Northern Neck Community Services Board … Pagie Cosby celebrates her 100th birthday; she is honored by over 100 family members, neighbors, and friends in an outdoor, masked, socially-distanced ceremony in the parking lot of Bethel Baptist Church, Sassafras … Woodville Rosenwald School Foundation receives $5,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for ongoing renovation work at the Woodville School … Gloucester County School Board unanimously approve the addition of African American History and Native American Studies classes as electives at Gloucester High School, starting in 2021-2022; it also allocates nearly $1.4 million in CARES Act funding to county schools to purchase new buses and Chromebooks … Gloucester United Emergency Shelter Team, or GUEST, gears up for the winter season … County meetings go virtual again … Gloucester Daffodil Committee continues with its mission of turning Gloucester yellow, with more than 7,000 bulbs planted by the club so far.

DECEMBER: Gloucester supervisors reaffirm the current real estate tax rate at 69.5 cents per $100 of assessed value, an action that was necessitated by an increase in property value as a result of the reassessment process which had not been completed prior to adoption of the budget and approve two solar projects … Nuttall’s Store in Ware Neck plans to renovate and open up its back room to the public … Surge in COVID-19 cases continues … A three-vehicle accident on Route 14 in Gloucester, takes the life of West Point resident Charles Miller … Woodville School in Ordinary, will get a state historical marker … Gloucester County School Board names Gazette-Journal reporter Kim Robins to Virginia School Boards Association’s 2020 Media Honor Roll … Gloucester’s Back to Business grant program processes 125 applications providing over $858,700 of federal CARES Act money to aid local business owners adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic … Lisa Breaud, a lifelong Gloucester resident and longtime employee of the Gloucester County Treasurer’s Office, is named chief deputy treasurer … Off-duty Gloucester deputy shot after he confronts break-in suspect in York County … Cathy Dale is sworn in as interim Gloucester Circuit Court clerk as Margaret Walker retires after 44 years in court administration … Charles Foster of Gloucester elected to Farm Service Agency county committee … Habitat for Humanity ReStore to move in 2021 … AVFR rescues two hunters after boat capsized.

Gloucester’s 2020 Year in Review was compiled by Nancy Layng.