Forest County: Not the time to come to camp

Staff writer

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought some unique challenges to Forest County.

While the county relies on and welcomes seasonal residents, the virus is raising heightened concerns that an influx of people from hard-hit urban areas could accelerate the spread of the illness in the county where they are taking refuge.

“We can’t do without them (campers from out of the area),” Mark Kingston, chairman of the county commissioners, said last week. But he added that due to the pandemic, “I tell people who call me that we can’t stop them from coming but there is nothing open up here and they are better off not coming.”

“Now is not the time to come to camp, my friends,” Commissioner Bob Snyder said.

Though Forest County only has five reported cases of coronavirus, the population of the county, not counting the SCI Forest state prison, is about 5,000 people, Kingston said.

This means that one in 1,000 Forest County residents have tested positive for the virus, resulting in a percentage much higher than in other counties such as Allegheny, Kingston said.

“I believe part of the reason the number of cases has spiked here is people coming in, not that it (the virus) wouldn’t have gotten here anyway,” Kingston said.

Many people in the county are following state and federal guidelines like social distancing to help flatten the curve, the commissioners said.

“The residents of the county are doing a great job of following the guidelines (from the CDC),” Kingston said. “There will always be a few people who break the rules. Hopefully it’s not devastating to us,” he added.

A contributing factor is that some people coming into the area from more urban settings seem to have a false sense of security from being in the woods.

Snyder said he received calls about fishermen congregating along creeks for Tuesday’s first day of trout season without practicing social distancing.

He added that Dollar General in Marienville has been packed.

“We are concerned but there is nothing we can do about it (people coming in to their camps). Hopefully they (out of town campers) use good sense, bring their food with them and stay in their camps,” Kingston said.

Over the weekend a sign appeared in front of the Tionesta visitors center. The sign read “Home does not mean camp,” Kingston said.

At some point Monday the sign was removed.

Another significant reason for concern is for the safety of the few first responders in the county.

“We have seven EMS people on the western side of the county, four of them were exposed to the virus when they responded to the first case in Forest County,” Kingston said.

“If they go to a house and rush in without knowing the person has the virus all our ambulance drivers could be exposed and we would be without an ambulance because there would be no one to run it,” Kingston said.

Area businesses have also responded to the influx of people from out of town.

At Haller’s General Store, a longtime landmark in Tionesta, business is picking up with the opening of trout season.

“Things are getting busier. We are selling a lot of bait. I can definitely tell the campers are coming in,” Haller’s owner Janey Brown said.

But not only campers are coming into the store.

“We get a combination of everyone, our regulars, local people and campers,” Brown said.

Brown bought the business just two weeks ago from previous owners Menahem and Tania Thalkar, and she said she isn’t sure how this year is comparing to previous years.

Social distancing is practiced, Brown said.

If people get close I remind them to spread out. This isn’t the way we normally live our lives so sometimes people need reminded,” she said.

Shoup’s Hardware in Marienville is temporarily closed because of concerns about the virus.

Owner John Shoup said he is concerned about the influx of people to the region recently during the coronavirus pandemic.

“In normal times I’m glad to have them in my store, but these are not normal times,” Shoup said.

Shoup, who is 80, has owned the business since 1962 when he took over from his father, who had bought the business in the early 1930s.

Normally, Shoup said he would love to have people come in his store but concerns for his safety and the safety of his employees and their families, some of whom are in the high risk category, moved him to make the difficult decision to close his business for a month or month and a half.

Though hardware stores are considered essential businesses and allowed to remain open, Shoup closed his business temporarily last Friday.

“I don’t want to say I don’t want these customers (people coming in from out of town). I need them badly,” Shoup said. He added that his business could weather being closed for a month or two.

He encouraged people to stay home and not come to their camps to slow the spread of the virus.

“I intend to be here when this is over,” said Shoup. “Business six months from now is more important than the month or month and a half we are closed.”

Shoup said he isn’t going to lay off his two employees but will keep them busy helping him in the store.

“I’m going to lose some sales, but I can stand that better than getting sick,” Shoup said. “This virus has been hard on our community, just like other places.”