August 11, 2020

If it were a sporting event, it would be the governor against the legislature, or part of the legislature anyway. With school districts deciding on how they will open for the next school year, districts are also looking at what to do about fall sports.

Unionville- Chadds Ford School Board directors approved a sports safety plan during a special meeting last week, but a few days later, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said he was “recommending” that there be no school sports before Jan. 1.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association has not yet decided whether to follow the recommendation, but at least two state representatives, Mike Reese, R-Westmoreland/Somerset, and Jesse Topper, R-Bedford/Franklin/Fulton, have introduced legislation that could influence what may or may not happen.

Reese introduced HB 2787, which would allow local districts to make their own decisions. In a press release, Reese said, “The governor’s announcement to stop all high school sports until Jan. 1 came as a complete shock to students, parents and even PIAA officials. Why now, right before the academic year begins, are schools not able to make their own decisions about sports? Will similar announcements be forthcoming regarding other extracurricular activities? These should be local decisions driven by local circumstances and included in each school’s athletic, health and safety plan.”

Topper’s bill, HB 2788, would allow students and their families to extend education and extracurricular activities for another year to make up for lost time due to Pennsylvania schools shutting down at the governor’s order in March.

“We must provide options for our students and their families who have already been robbed of so much,” Topper said. “Students in Pennsylvania must have access to exceptional educational opportunities and if they don’t, then we’re simply not doing our job,” Topper said in the release.

The bills will go to the House Education Committee for consideration.

The PIAA had endorsed sports resumption for the fall term but has since delayed a decision for two weeks. In the interim, mandatory fall sports activities are on hold through Aug. 21, but voluntary workouts may continue.

U-CF’s health and safety plan for fall sports can be found here.

 

It was sometime around mid-March of this year. It seems like an eternity ago.

I was well into what I call my “COVID Freak-Out Period.” And after my first 6 a.m. trip to the Giant wondered if I’d have to resort to paper napkins or paper towels for — you know — toilet paper.

It was about that time my sister received a viral YouTube from a friend in Sedona, Az., which my sister, knowing the abysmal mood I was in, forwarded to me.

It was a miniature Schnauzer named Pluto with a pink collar, her mouth, and voice digitally altered making it appear she was talking.

“Hello Internet, It’s Pluto here. And I’m getting the feeling there’s kind of a crisis with the two-leggeds.”  The video was only 1:58 minutes long.

But this began the international love affair with a 13-year-old, mostly deaf and blind little dog with a touch of dementia from Canada.

What followed has been weekly YouTube shorts from Pluto commenting on life during quarantine and other philosophical lessons. For it seems when the truth is spoken by a little dog, well let’s just say Pluto can get away with more than your best friend, or even Dr. Fauci.

In the weeks that followed we learned:

“I’m a girl Pluto… but I don’t really get offended because my gender expression is pretty fluid.”

“No, I’m not reading a teleprompter, I mean seriously, I can’t read — I’m a dog.”

“Cat’s aren’t that important,” referring to her nemesis Neville, a fluffy black beauty.

During that first long lockdown, Pluto suggested designating a wall in your house as a worry wall, giving your kids some markers, pens and maybe some Chanel lipstick that you don’t have any use for now and, ”Ohhhh I can hear the gasps all the way over here now,” Pluto interjects, “Not my Benjamin Moore Blissful Blonde wall”

I practically fell off my sofa.

Pluto is the creation of Nancie Wight, from Montreal, Canada. In Pluto’s own words, Wight is an “un-renowned” wildlife photographer from “Poutine-ville” in the “Canada Lands”.

Wight’s curriculum vitae on Linkedin sounds like the true Renaissance woman that she is, with life experiences ranging from stand-up comedian, a lecturer at Concordia University, creative consultant in social media strategies for companies including HBO and Disney, to her present calling, an amazing African wildlife photographer shooting scenes and detail so stunning it can take your breath away.

According to interviews, Wight said she had been doing videos of Pluto just for her friends and family when one of them urged her to make, “Pluto Addresses the Internet in This Time of Crisis,” public.

By the end of the second day, Pluto’s site had 2 million hits, more than Wight’s wildlife photography site, www.njwight.com, had seen in a decade.

Wight said the response has been, “Overwhelming.”

Five months later, Pluto has followers all over the world and counts celebrities among her devoted fans.

So, sit down, put your feet up, click on https://www.youtube.com/c/PlutoLiving/videos, and let go of today for a while. And when you hear a little voice saying, “Hi everyone, it’s me, Pluto.” You’ll know you’ve found that little corner of happiness.

And by the way, if like me, you didn’t know what Poutine is, look it up on “Mr. Googley” (one of many Pluto-isms), and as soon as the cool weather sets in, you’ll be itching to make some of Quebec’s famous comfort food with French fries, gravy and melted cheese curds.