Our Day Is Coming

Easter Weekend 2020

We thought “our day” had come!

For 18 months we have worked, dreamed, hoped, planned and worked even more to open our brand new front doors on April 1st to celebrate a “new day” at Core Sound. It was going to be the greatest spring ever with events that would reflect a true community celebration of recovery, resilience and reassurance that we were “home again.” For months and months, through delays and setbacks we have said over and over, “We’re opening the door come April 1st, come h--- or high water …”  And we almost did; we were just days away… but we never considered a pandemic.

There we were on April 1, overwhelmed, weary, confused and unsure what the next day, the next week, would hold, not only for the museum we love, but even more importantly for our families, our homes, our businesses, our future. And now, here we are, Easter Weekend 2020, still finding our way through a spring season that no one has ever known before.

Core Sounders, like all the other people of the world, have faced a reality that we never imagined.  Schools closed, many stores locked, only a few restaurants providing take-out, unprecedented fears to go the grocery store, beloved family members in rest homes that cannot be reached, all things we never thought possible, not to mention lost jobs and an uncertain economy.  All that has caused us, like all of you, to stop and realize just how quickly things can change – because they have.

The world really is a different place now.

But this we do know; our commitment to our community that we love has not changed. Churches and organizations have come together to serve one another in ways we never considered before. School lunches are now delivered to homes from school buses by passionate teachers and school workers who are making sure those kids have a good meal midday. Parents are learning google classroom logistics and in the process, gaining a much better understanding of classroom teachers’ challenges. Businesses are holding onto their faithful employees (no matter what the sacrifice) and neighbors are making sure their elderly friends have the things they need without risking their health. It is a new world but in many small but important ways, reassurance that we will come through this “storm,” just like we have all the others, stronger together, more determined than ever.

We know we will, because we have.

Down East is rallying to the call like always.  Drive in churches, ladies making masks, a return to home-cooked meals, lots of yard work to get us out of the house, more volunteering because the needs are great, all ways of coping with this “invisible enemy” that has threatened us all. We are not discouraged, we are looking forward, eager to get back to whatever “normal” will be, much more appreciative of the everyday things … a restaurant meal, a steady job, a regular day at school, and nightly news without a death toll for the day.

Core Sound will be ready when that day comes. We are still going to make sure that our museum opening – whenever it is – will be an even greater, more meaningful, celebration of community and recovery, a “new day” for sure, and we hope YOU WILL BE HERE!  We will be setting new dates as soon as we know what the plan for North Carolina will be and we’ll let you know as soon as we know.

Many, many thanks to everyone who has given of their time and their resources to keep us moving forward through the rebuild, the expansion of our outreach at 806 in Morehead City and our plans for more programs, changing exhibitions and a more beautiful home “at the end of the road.” We are very thankful this Easter Weekend for all we have overcome and all the friends and family of Core Sound that have made our recovery possible.

We have learned much since Florence came almost 20 months ago. The storm, the devastation, the cleanup and recovery, the rebuild and now this unbelievable world crisis, have made us stronger as families and more thankful for our communities and the people who give of themselves to hold us all together, no matter what comes our way.

“Our day” is coming, a “new day” at the end of the road, now even more precious than it would have been April 1st.  We are looking forward to that time with renewed spirits and reassured commitment to one another and our community, in hopes that you and yours will be here to share the victory and join with us in giving thanks for all that Core Sound means to every one of us.