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This edition of Farmville the Magazine comes in the middle of one of the greatest challenges our town has faced. The coronavirus pandemic has thrown the world for a loop, and our country has been turned upside down both from a health crisis and the resulting financial downturn.

As we wake up today in the Heart of Virginia, more than 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment. Almost 47,000 people have died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, 372 of those deaths are Virginians, two are from Prince Edward County. Our lovely two-college town is a no-college town as even the resumption of in-person classes next fall is beginning to be called into question. Restaurants are open only for takeout, festivals have all be canceled, playgrounds have been deemed dangerous territory and there are no sports to be found.

It is a strange and different time.

In this edition of the magazine, we take the advice of the great Fred Rogers. Known to most of us as Mr. Rogers, he provided the following words to children who watched his program after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

— Fred Rogers

We are featuring the people who are working hard to keep our lives in order. Many of them had jobs considered mundane or ordinary before the pandemic struck. Now, they are our Pandemic Heroes. This edition of the magazine features photos of the health care workers who are working so hard to keep us safe. We also feature a postal carrier, a group making masks, food delivery workers, a grocery store worker and a newspaper carrier. These workers are out there every day making sure we have the things we need in these uncertain times.

The magazine also features a group of nonprofits that have come together to build a website guiding those who need resources to the places where they can find help.

For some necessary diversion, there is a chance to build Nash Osborn’s Big Bang Fried Chicken Sandwich, and Alexa Massey provides a guide to some of the most interesting channels on YouTube.

It’s a full magazine to entertain for some time while we wait for life to return to some semblance of normalcy. I hope you enjoy.

As always, if you have any suggestions about stories you would like to see in the magazine, feel free to shoot me an email at Roger.Watson@FarmvilletheMag.com

Stay safe everyone.

Roger Watson is editor of Farmville the Magazine. His email address is Roger.Watson@FarmvilletheMag.com.