BOSTON (WHDH) - Back Bay residents marked the end of state and federal COVID-19 emergencies Thursday with an encore performance of a pandemic tradition.
Three years ago, residents sang “Sweet Caroline” nearly every night in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, they gathered once again on Beacon Street.
The tradition began in March of 2020 with Mike DiCarlo belting a Boston favorite from his balcony.
“Originally, when the health emergency came up, I was inspired by these people who were singing out the window, in Venice in particular,” DiCarlo said this week. “I said ‘Jeez, that’s really fun. I wish someone would do that here in the Back Bay.”
“I said ‘Well, might as well be me,’” DiCarlo continued.
DiCarlo took some liberties with the classic Neil Diamond song, rewriting the lyrics to fit the times.
“Hands not touching hands,” went one new line.
People in the neighborhood caught on.
“[T]here were five people,” DiCarlo said. “And then there were 10. And then was 100 and then there was 150.”
“The days were long, but we all knew we had 6 p.m. ahead of us to sing with Mike,” said Stephanie Kohn.
The group sang every night for 70 nights, six feet apart and wearing masks but still together.
“Even though we were strung along the street and across the street and social distancing, we just wanted to see people,” said Ellen Rooney. “It felt so good to gather and to sing our hearts out.”
This week, the group met again without any COVID restrictions.
“This has been a time of a lot of struggle for people, a lot of hardship the last two and a half years,” Gov. Maura Healey said at a separate event Thursday. “We’re in a different space now, but I will say that we will continue to follow what health experts and science are telling us.”
In the Back Bay, the group of neighbors singing “Sweet Caroline” Thursday recognize the pain of the last few years, between COVID-related deaths, the loss of business and lives put on hold.
With song, though, they’re looking forward.
“We’re a lot happier,” said Ellen Rooney. “We’re a lot more relieved. It’s a happy night, a celebration.”
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