Ribbons and signs remind of lives lost to COVID-19

Members of the Northern Lights Basketball team volunteered to help a local group put up ribbons in remembrance of the 40 COVID-19-related fatalities in Hill County. 

"Renelle (Braaten) reached out to us because she thought that we would help, knowing that we do a lot of community service each year," Northern Lights Basketball Head Coach Shawn Huse said Thursday. "We were able to find some time and get some of my players out there today and tie the ribbons up above the notes that they had put on the poles."

Susan Somers and Rennelle Braaten made the ribbons and memorial flyers that were hung on light poles along Fifth Avenue. 

"Several of us had been talking about some kind of memorial. We thought at this point it was kind of important that people stop and think about the COVID epidemic and a good way to do that would be to get them to focus on the fact that it has cost the community, it has cost lives," said the local mask-up group spokesperson Will Rawn. 

He said Carolyn Anderson, Karen Datko, Somers, Braaten and he all discussed how to best carry out the memorial. Rawn said, at first, the group considered crosses like a traditional memorial, however, someone mentioned ribbons and the fact it would be easier for the group to handle. 

Rawn said that Braaten had the vision of a long sting of ribbons hanging on the light poles on fifth avenue. 

"It would be a way for people to visualize the size of this problem, which is 40 people at this point. 40 people in the county have died now," he said.

Lights players were planning on putting up more today.

Huse said it took about a half an hour to hang the ribbons on the east side of fifth avenue and that the team will finish hanging ribbons on the west side today. He expects it to take about the same amount of time. 

"In terms of us pitching, in it's any opportunity we can take and show support for the community. In terms of something that has affected everybody directly or indirectly in terms of the COVID and stuff that we are all going through, we are more than happy to do that," said Huse. 

Rawn said he and Anderson envisioned the signs to hang with the ribbons to help people interpret the ribbons. Anderson did the printing of the signs that read "In memory of a life lost to COVID in Hill County".

The signs do not identify the people that lost their lives, however, Rawn said that the sign itself represents the memory of each person that died due to the COVID pandemic. 

"Just this, just this little marker here might get someone to stop and think, 'Somebody suffered from this,'" he said. "And then the next thought would hopefully be, 'What could we do about this?' You would certainly think that would be the next thought, anyway."

County officials, city officials and highway department all helped the group with accomplishing the project. 

"I think they recognize too, I think there a lot of people in the community that recognize that something needs to be done now. People have been very supportive of the effort," said Rawn. 

Rawn said the ribbon activity is just one effort this group has been a part of.  The group has put up other signs including one of a little girl wearing a mask with a seatbelt needing to be buckled and a message that reads "It only works if you wear it." The group also put up signs during the Christmas season designed by Marilee Russell, featuring Santa Claus wearing a mask and urging people to wear them.

"I hope when people are driving past those ribbons, they just take a moment to reflect on somebody lost. Somebody was lost here. And then do whatever they want with that reflection but just reflect on that loss," said Rawn.

Huse said he supports wearing masks to help keep the community safe. 

"I'm for wearing masks. Anything to keep each other safe for sure," said Huse.

Medical professionals around the world has said masks are an effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19. The virus that causes the disease, novel coronavirus 2019 or SARS-CoV-2, can be spread when it is carried by moisture in people's breath, expelled when they cough, sneeze, sing, talk or even breathe. Cloth mask help trap the moisture, reducing the spread of the virus.

Rawn said he is concerned that as numbers of new cases drop and directives and restrictions are lifted, people will stop taking action to slow the spread of the virus and numbers will again climb, citing an outbreak centered on Dodson schools that has pushed up numbers in Blaine and Phillips counties and on Fort Belknap Indian Reservation which is in both counties.

"I think it is too bad that we don't have a continual mask mandate. I think that it is just as important to give reminders of social distancing and limiting the numbers at restaurants and bars. Those things would be just as important as the masks I think," said Rawn.

"... It's true that in Hill County the infection rates are going down, and that's a great thing. What we don't know is what is coming next. We know that we have new variants of COVID-19 that are appearing in the American population, which apparently are more highly infectious. ... We know there is still a pretty high risk. If you were only going to do one thing to limit the spread, wearing masks should probably be that one thing. 

"It doesn't cost anything," he added. It doesn't interfere with anything else. You can wear a mask while grocery shopping just as well as not wearing one. So, if you were going to do one thing whether (Gov. Greg) Gianforte calls for it or not, I'd say wear a mask. Its so easy. It's so simple."

He said the argument that some people can't wear masks is weak.

"The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recognizes that there are people that can't wear a mask," Rawn said. "There are damn few of them. If you can't wear a mask you are crazy to be out there anyways. There's no good reason I can see not to wear a mask."