Post Pandemic Parties

Getting Back to Normal or Frivolous Risk?

I believe this is the first time that I’m actively reaching out to Paxtonian readers to solicit feedback. I’m always thrilled to hear your thoughts, but this time I’m asking for them. We’re celebrating our 30th year in business and, last month, we were even granted Legacy Business Status for reaching this significant milestone!

I’m proud of that accomplishment, yet I’m debating whether we should actively commemorate the event. Do we plan a party to take place this December or play it safe for yet another year? Believe it or not, given the spectacle that we’d want to host, our planning would need to start soon. Before going into that, I’d like to talk about the pandemic, how Paxton Gate responded to it, and how we continue to make decisions regarding our role in this ongoing event.

The title of this month’s Paxtonian itself raises some questions. One would be: Is it ok to use the phrase “Post Pandemic?” I have friends and colleagues who occupy each end of the spectrum. The pandemic is over, let’s move on. Or, We need to play it safe until we know this is behind us. I suppose at this point, I land somewhere in the middle.

My opinion has changed notably over the last two years regarding masking and mingling with people I don’t know. In fact, my journey has run full circle in how I’ve responded to the pandemic. When I first started hearing mutterings about this mystery illness sweeping through China and landing on the shores of the continental U.S., I was one of those people saying, “The flu kills thousands of people in the U.S. every year. This is just another version of that. No need to freak out.” A couple months later I was stockpiling toilet paper, shelf-stable food, and researching how to treat water for long-term storage!

Paxton Gate, as you may know, reopened cautiously and tentatively. We started with sales only at the door or curbside pickup. We maintained that level of caution for several months, a lot longer than many of our neighbors, and notably longer than we were required to by the City or State.

I had personally hunkered down, and since my staff was, by and large, occupying a similar mindset, we delayed fully opening for quite some time. I’ll never know if that was the proper course to take but it seemed to work for us. It was only a couple weeks ago that we stopped requiring masks in the store and instead “encourage” them.

As I wrote about in Issue 8 of The Paxtonian, we finally threw caution to the wind to attend our annual fossil and mineral shopping trip in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year. Despite being fully vaccinated and boosted, always wearing an N95 mask indoors, and eating every meal outdoors, I contracted COVID on that trip. It was very mild, and I got through it quickly as did my wife. Our daughter managed to dodge it entirely. Somehow simply contracting it, I was mentally forced over the hump; I was pushed through that anxiety I had about the sickness and, since then, have opened up notably to unmasking. There’s not much logic to this about-face, since my risk now—several months after being sick—is probably similar to what it was just before getting sick.

That said, I’ve ventured into indoor dining (something I haven’t done for the entire pandemic) and I’m pretty open to unmasking in most scenarios.

So, personally, I’m in the position of wanting to take advantage of this current—hopefully permanent—downturn and enjoying some freedoms that I’ve neglected for quite some time.

So, now I find myself, here in our 30th year in business, mostly open to unmasking, yet with variant of Omicron on the horizon, and I’d like to plan a party, but should I?

For those of you who have missed them, our parties are quite fun. Most years we provide snacks and beverages, some sort of live music, occasionally a DJ, and invite everyone to come and celebrate with us. We offer discounts the night of the party, door prizes and sometimes other giveaways. Paxton Gate is typically packed with anywhere from 200 to 400 people filing through during the course of the evening’s event. It’s a large store on some measures, but that’s a packed house with no chance of any sort of social distancing. Starting with our 15th anniversary, we’ve been hosting much more extravagant soirees every fifth year and with this being our 30th—our “pearl jubilee”—it’s hard to pass up. These elaborate 5-year events are more akin to a mini circus or sideshow dropping into Paxton Gate for a performance.

Each year we’ve teamed up with our friends at Vau de Vire Society to present contortionists, sword swallowers, stilt walkers roaming the premises, and much more. They are crazy events that the staff, friends, family and our customers talk about for years to come.

So, my question to you readers—and presumably Paxton Gate Fans—is do we risk planning it this year? We skipped our 2020 and 2021 parties altogether for obvious reasons, but with COVID waning, is it time?

Dare I risk the planning, scheduling, placing deposits for purveyors, creating assets for marketing, hours of my time and staff time, and so much more with the chance that yet another wave could hit us, and it could all be canceled? There is no plan B that I can think of; there is no way to hold this event during a 4th or 5th wave that doesn’t put my staff and our guests at risk. At what point is it irresponsible to host this party? By hosting a party am I standing up to COVID and saying this will never be a forever pandemic or am I foolishly putting my staff and customers at risk?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can email me directly at [email protected] or click here to fill out a short questionnaire.

—Sean Quigley, Founder

Founder’s Favorite

Giant Fluorite Specimen

Fluorite is often so perfect that it looks fake to me, especially the fluorite octahedrons that remind me of Dungeons & Dragons dice. Despite my D&D past, I don’t immediately love every piece I see, but it is one of my favorite minerals, nonetheless. At its best, fluorite has a lush quality not seen in most. It’s almost as if it holds moisture. In fact, every time I see it, I think of our partner’s up in the Portland Paxton Gate Stores, Andy and—in particular—his wife Susan.

On her first buying trip to Tucson with me, over ten years ago, she kept wanting to lick the minerals. Don’t get me wrong, she didn’t actually lick anything (that I know of). She was just so smitten that every time she’d see an amazing new piece she’d exclaim, “God, look at that; don’t you just want to lick it?!”  I would laugh, or depending on who was listening, sculk away like I didn’t know her. Just kidding Susan! But, looking at fluorite, I understand what she’s thinking; it kind of looks like candy!

We acquired this unusually large specimen earlier this year in Tucson and it has everything going for it. It’s got the dewy appearance that few minerals have. It also boasts an irregularity in its form, just enough of those natural imperfections so that you know it’s real. The deep rich green is far less common than the light green often seen in fluorite. And, its shear grand scale. How can you not love this piece? We’ve only got two from this lot, the large one and its smaller sibling. Drop by and check them out while you can.

—Sean Quigley, Founder

Comments, ideas for articles, or inquiries? Email us at Paxtonian@Paxtongate.com.

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