As “social distancing” becomes part of our daily syntax and schedule, more and more companies that are event-driven are experiencing crippling losses as hourly updates about the coronavirus leave some people paralyzed with panic and others with more questions than answers.

Celebrations Catering, which used to call downtown Nashua its home, is now located in Manchester, but covers the Gate City and surrounding areas. It, too, is feeling the squeeze as many upcoming events have been canceled, leaving the award-winning company with no staffing needs, and an abundance of prepared and unprepared food.

In an effort to make a bad situation better, Celebrations has leveraged corporate partnerships with area agencies to get a surplus of food into the hands of organizations that can utilize it. Manchester Church, St. Raphael Church of Manchester and Salem-based Extreme Network agreed to help Celebrations offset the loss of revenue and food so that Celebrations could offer a donation of 400 pounds of corned beef to Families in Transition-New Horizons.

“This has been a difficult week for the service industry,” said Celebrations owner and president Fred Manheck. “As companies and individuals cancel events, we are having to cancel employee shifts.”

Celebrations delivered the donation to the chef at Families in Transition Saturday morning.

Amy Strike, Celebrations director of events and marketing, said the coronavirus outbreak effects the catering firm greatly, as their events are often for large gatherings in enclosed areas.

“It’s been everything from business meetings, which could be a group of 25, to large-scale fundraisers of 300 to 400-plus that at this point have canceled,” she said. “So many businesses have halted travel, so they’re not inviting in visitors. And with our staff, we are taking it day-by-day and we’re trying to be supportive as most of our staff is hourly employees.”

With multiple New Hampshire schools already announcing closures, this negatively effects companies like Celebrations, who also provide school luncheons for several private institutions. Strike said that hasn’t changed – yet.

“We don’t have schools that have closed long-term at this point,” she said. “We have had schools that have closed for a day. We have schools that are going on break this week, so we’re not sure what will happen after that.”

Live events also are hitting a wall. Major sports teams have suspended games, March Madness tournaments have been canceled, and right here at home, live music venues like Tupelo Music Hall in Derry are feeling the impact of the pandemic. They are temporarily closed due to the current crisis.

In a Facebook interview on Friday, Tupelo owner Scott Hayward said, “I got on a plane, and three hours later, I got off the plane and my industry was gone.”

Hayward went on to say that while Tupelo had shows this past weekend, the future is unclear. And understandably, live music venues rely on booking acts and attracting audiences – both of which are up in the air for many businesses.

“I think I have a show tonight,” he said. “But I’m honestly not sure. Since I got up this morning, things have changed 20 times.”

Most would agree that the event industry is uniquely different from other enterprises. Hayward said his phones were buzzing all day, and while he was tied up on one line, he would receive three voice messages.

“People were calling, wanting to know if the show was on,” he said. “They wanted to know if the show in June is on. They wanted to know if the show in July is on. Some people are calling to ask how long we’re going to be closed to give them an idea as to how long this is going to last. We don’t know.”

——

EDITOR’S NOTE: This content is being provided for free as a public service to our community during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Telegraph at https://home.nashuatelegraph.com/clickshare/checkDelivery.do;jsessionid=40C089D96583CD7318C1C1D9317B6162.

Newsletter