— from Eleanor Hoague —

The San Juan Islands are not unlike other areas in the country which rely heavily on tourist dollars. Recently, NPR aired an illuminating piece on a similar area of the U.S., the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. That area’s response to planning for the next few months is far different from that being considered by our San Juan County Council.

During a normal summer the Berkshires host some 350,000 tourists, many who come to enjoy the arts and music scene centered around the Tanglewood Music Festival (not unlike the Orcas Chamber Music Festival and Orcas’ many other festivals and concerts). These visitors boost the Berkshire economy to the tune of over $50 million dollars and, although there is little data available about the tourist industry in our county,
I would hazard a guess that it might be comparable.

The impact of the virus shutdown on Berkshire restaurants, hotels, and retail businesses has been similar to that suffered by Orcas businesses: devastating.

Notwithstanding this and the extremely low COVID 19 infection rate in Berkshire County the Tanglewood festival and related events have been cancelled and the county is staying at Stage 2 reopening. (Infection rate for Berkshire County is .5/100,000 versus the higher .8/100.000 in SJ County.)

So why are the Berkshires reopening more cautiously? Because the tourist industry there feels an incredible obligation to be protective of its community, as NPR reports. Tanglewood and Berkshire County want to be on the right side of history rather than contributing to a coronavirus surge that would take them back to a stage of total lockdown.

Rick Hughes, Jamie Stephens, Bill Watson, don’t you want to be on the right side of history, too?

If you wish to hear the news report on NPR, CLICK HERE.

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