Ohio Governor Mike DeWine recently extended his coronavirus curfew through January 23. His rationale is the move was needed in order to observe if a post-holiday coronavirus surge is coming and, potentially, stave it off.
Understandable at the base level, but these moves aren’t made in a vacuum and the longer it goes on, it’s having negative, real world effects on all sorts of businesses and organizations in the Buckeye State.
Chiefly among those, are the bars and restaurants. Not only must they operate at less than full capacity, but also must adhere to the curfew which, this time around, was originally to end last month. Then it was extended to Jan. 2, and again, until Jan. 23.
The longer the curfew goes on, the more these types of businesses will feel the pinch. A further subset of the pain exists with fraternal organizations like the Eagles, Elks, and other similarly structured organizations.
The Bellaire Eagles Aerie 371 has a decent membership roll and a lot of those members are older and retired. According to members of Aerie 371 leadership, maybe 20 percent of the roll comes out on a regular basis. With COVID, those numbers have dwindled.
When the first restrictions went into place, the club was completely closed starting in March through the last week of April. That’s nearly two months of potential earning, events, and drawings all coming to a halt. But what didn’t halt were bills, license fees, or insurances.
Reopening at diminished capacity wasn’t ideal, but it was a shot in the arm compared to no income at all, but yearly dues of $28 per member are not going to keep the Eagles afloat. Even the facility’s bartenders have been working on a volunteer basis since March as payroll wasn’t going to be reached.
When Will it End?
But the instituting of the curfew, along with its various extensions, is putting clubs in real danger, and not just in Bellaire.
“At a recent meeting, it was discussed that there are 11 Aeries ready to close up right now, and that’s just in Ohio,” said secretary Danny Hughes.
Bellaire isn’t there yet, but if the curfew drags on much further, membership may not have a home in the All-American town much longer.
Other organizations like the Sons of Italy in Bellaire and the various Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) locations can have social members. Citizens in good standing, recognized and recommended by a regular member, can join.
The American Legion is restricted to veterans, but also can include the Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion members, helping boost membership roles slightly.
The Eagles doesn’t have this luxury. There are no social members. No auxiliary. It’s a members only club.
“We don’t have anything like that,” admitted Trustee Dennis Hughes. “We depend on members and there’s been nights recently where we haven’t even had enough people (in the building) to hold our nightly drawing.”
Dennis Hughes noted that recently, the younger crowd started to pick up, with new members signing up. When the village began using its own volunteer fire department again, having the station across the street was a boon. Many VFD members joined up.
The club was slowly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel before the curfew hit.
“We were starting to pick up a lot more younger people, then this hit,” Hughes said. “The curfew is just killing us.”
Money In, and Out
The curfew extension into January meant the Eagles canceled their annual New Year’s Eve Party, one of its bigger money makers and well attended events.
The members’ Christmas party both for women, and men, had to be canceled. The kids’ party was still held in a drive-thru fashion, but Santa and company were stationed outside. The kids enjoyed themselves and the process did not place them in any danger. But without holding the party inside, all the alcohol, drawings, video lottery and even a minor bit of food sales were not realized.
The Aerie 371 building has a hall that can be rented out for parties or events and the facility also hosts bands, but with the 10 p.m. cutoff on top of the social distancing restrictions, its use is down considerably.
“We’ve been able to host a couple smaller birthday parties because we can limit the number of people, but when you have a limit on people allowed, and a time limit, it makes it tough.”
It’s even taken a toll of the Eagles’ charitable donations. The Eagles routinely make a donation to the Bellaire Police Department with a portion of the proceeds from the video lottery machines. Even that has been done away with temporarily.
One minor assistance provided by the state’s Division of Liquor Control. They issued the Eagles a small stipend and also provided an extension on its license. That money is now due in July when normally it would need paid up in January.
Hughes noted that will help some, but again, the longer the curfew continues, it will be tough to make up the losses.
