Mayor Leclerc Wishes You a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving

happy thanksgiving

Thanksgiving traditions have always brought families together.  This year, with the guidance of our Health Department, our Governor, Commissioner of Public Health and the CDC, we must choose health over traditions and find new ways to connect and celebrate with our extended family and friends during this pandemic.  For many of us there will be empty seats at our tables. For some, that will be by choice as we adhere to safety protocols, but for many, the pandemic has taken the lives of loved ones and robbed them of future traditions and memories.

The last ten months have been a marathon for our community and a challenge for every person as our patterns of activities have been upended while we continuously adapt to the rise and fall of the pandemic. Despite these challenging times, we find the endurance within us as we continue to listen to appropriate guidance and choose actions that will safeguard our family, friends and community, and mitigate the strength of the impact. 

These challenging times are reminders of what is truly important, as we remove the superficial layers and find raw hope that lives in our deep and abiding devotion to family and community, the rising of equality and justice for all, the loyalty of friendships and the value of our integrity, goodness and compassion as we long for the return of a reassuring human contact through the extension of a hand or the comfort of an embrace.

I am thankful for the volumes of volunteers and organizations who are working to ensure our residents have food, shelter and protections. For the businesses that have modified their operations to address our community needs and provide ongoing testing. I am grateful for the dedication and commitment of our teachers and town employees who continue to work every day to ensure the health, welfare and safety of our community and keep operations normal whenever so contrary.

This Thanksgiving holiday please continue to follow the advice of our health experts and refrain from hosting gathering with those outside of your immediate family, as small private gatherings are the main cause of community spread in East Hartford and nationwide. Instead, consider hosting virtual celebrations or small gatherings with members of your immediate household. I understand how difficult it can be to socially distance, quarantine and isolate from close family members and friends. However, we must remain vigilant and continue to comply with social distancing and other safety measures to mitigate the spread. As always, please practice frequent hand washing, wear your mask and get tested, even if you are not experiencing any symptoms. We continue to work closely with local healthcare providers to offer free and accessible testing to all residents. Please visit www.easthartfordct.gov/coronavirus/testing to view available testing sites.

This year, the town has been the beneficiary of extraordinary kindness, with many doing both large and small gestures of giving that provide others with hope and encourage us to think beyond ourselves, while supporting each other in times of great challenge. Please continue to spread kindness, give with a generous heart, remember to check on your loved ones and take care of yourself and your families. Stay well and stay healthy. We are in this together.