As America slowly transitions back to normal life, local churches, businesses and gyms begin to re-open their doors.
Churches
More Scurry County area churches will soon resume face-to-face services, after some have already begun.
Lighthouse Assembly of God will open for a Sunday morning service at 11:15 a.m., but will keep Sunday and Wednesday evening services online only.
Snyder’s First Baptist Church has already opened for an in-person service at 10:15 a.m. Sundays, and the United Pentecostal Church, Walking by Faith Ministries and East Side Church of Christ will have in-person services at 10 a.m. Sundays.
Trinity United Methodist Church and Ira United Methodist Church will have Sunday morning services at 11 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. respectively.
Avenue D Baptist Church and First United Methodist Church will hold in-person services at 10:45 a.m. Sunday and Calvary Baptist Church will resume in-person services May 24 with services at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church will hold parking lot masses at 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday.
Officials from each church said they only will offer Sunday morning services with no Sunday School or child care available. They also plan to continue online services.
Several churches have not yet made the decision to re-open, including Snyder First Assembly of God, Colonial Hill Baptist Church, 37th Street Church of Christ, the Word Is Life Deliverance Church and First Presbyterian Church. Leaders are still evaluating the situation.
To include a church not listed here in future stories, please contact Kaylee at 573-5486.
Gyms
Gyms statewide will be able to open their doors once more next week.
Several Snyder gyms will re-open on Monday, but with a few restrictions. They can only open to 25 percent of their total capacity, and members must wear gloves and wipe down equipment before and after use. Face masks are not required, but encouraged. Public showers in gyms must stay closed at this time as well.
Anytime Fitness owner Misty Nettles said that she and her staff are ready to reopen at 5 a.m. on Monday, and staff will be increased to ensure that guidelines are followed. They have moved equipment to maintain social distancing and added extra hand-sanitizing stations.
Anytime Fitness’ capacity for the time being will be 28 members at a time, and they will have a whiteboard in the entry for members to sign in and out as they enter and leave the facility. For now, their group classes such as yoga and Zumba will remain virtual, but personal training sessions will resume. Nettles said that staff will assess the capacity for any group classes again on June 1.
She said they are currently not offering any seven-day passes or guests at this time, as they would like to allow members to work out first.
“We aren’t sure how things are going to look when we open,” Nettles said. “We might have an influx of people wanting to use the gym, and there may be people who just aren’t ready or aren’t comfortable to start again. Until we know, we just want to take care of our members.”
Anytime stopped billing its members on April 4 and will start again on June 5. Nettles said that she will attend to any billing issues brought to her attention. Tiger Health and Fitness will also re-open on Monday following the same guidelines. Owner Shara Humphrey said that she is not worried about reaching the 25 percent capacity, as the gym has plenty of room for social distancing.
Billing for the Tiger Gym is being handled on a case-by-case basis, but Humphrey said that anyone with questions could stop by the office to discuss them with her.
Cogdell Wellness Center has opted not to re-open yet, as there are special considerations for medical facilities.
“It’s a little different with us having the physical therapy side to the gym,” said Office Coordinator Tracy McClure. “We’ll re-evaluate when Gov. Abbott releases new guidelines.”
Museum
After being closed for most of the semester, the Scurry County Museum is re-opening today at 2 p.m.
The museum will open at 50 percent capacity Wednesday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“Due to the sensitive nature of our artifacts, we are not able to use disinfecting chemicals on our exhibits,” said Executive Director Nicole DeGuzman. “So we are requesting that each visitor wear a face covering and continue to not touch the artifacts.”
Museum staff will sanitize high-traffic objects such as door handles, countertops and bathrooms between visitors, and hand sanitizer will available at the front door.
“We are taking every precaution we can and are following museum practices from across the country,” DeGuzman said.
The museum will feature an exhibit that opened just before it closed. Historic Girl Scouts uniforms and a diorama created by local Girl Scouts are among the items that will be on display. The museum will soon open a veterans’ exhibit in addition to its permanent gallery.
Museum staff will continue to collect diaries and notes about the effects of the pandemic in Scurry County. These will go into the museum’s permanent archives to be put on display at a later date.
“History is happening now and it is important to collect memories about what is happening locally,” DeGuzman said.
While it was closed to the public, the museum distributed free science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) kits. More than 100 children picked up the educational kits.
Although excited about re-opening, she said that because of the ongoing social distancing guidelines, the museum has had to cancel a fundraiser, the Scurry County Museum festival, and will be canceling all summer camps this year.
“We are saddened by having to make these decisions but feel it was the best choice for our community,” she said. “We look forward to bringing programs back when it is safe to do so.”