Gardiner Area High School senior Jaycie Stevens, left, gives a socially distant high five May 30 to teacher Andrea Creamer at The Ice Cream Shoppe in Randolph. Creamer brought the gift bag to her at job as part of one truck parade in which she brought gifts her French IV students. Creamer said that the bags included balloon, card, glow stick, sticker sheet, and coaster with a cartoon of her teaching online French class. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Family, friends and graduates maintain a social distance June 14 before walking into Cony High School in Augusta. Instead of the usual one large Sunday afternoon ceremony for all seniors at the Augusta Civic Center they held many smaller ceremonies all weekend long at the high school. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo

Abigail and Zachary St. Johns are greeted June 20 with bubbles and rice during a wedding march in Hallowell. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the couple relocated their wedding ceremony to her parents’ home and walked around the block after exchanging nuptials to greet neighbors and friends from a socially safe distance. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo

Al Cavanagh, seated, greets well wishers June 21 during the 96th birthday celebration in his honor on the Kennebec River Rail Trail in Augusta. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo

Dan Shaw of Mountain State School Equipment and Augusta Civic Center staffers work to install one of the new basketball goals Feb. 12 in the Poulin Auditorium of the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Nels Ormdal, left, Shelby Ormdal and Lucy Omdal clean up March 30 at the Frosty’s doughnut shop they closed in downtown Gardiner. Later in the year the space was taken over by El Oso restaurant and gallery. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Gardiner fans cheer on their Tigers during Class A North championship game Feb. 21 against Hampden Academy at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo

Caroline, left, Charlie, center, and Alistair McKee beckon customers Aug. 23 to the lemonade stand they erected on the front lawn of their Hallowell home. The siblings said sales were brisk and all done in complete compliance with COVID-19 regulations. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal  Buy this Photo

Travis Seward II gestures toward adults watching outside the track after dumping his bike Aug. 25 at Wheeler Spring MX in Bowdoin. An adult rider on the track stopped and picked it up for him. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo

Hampden Academy senior guard Bryce Lausier, left, Cony senior forward Dakota Dearborn and Hampden Academy junior guard Andy Raye watch Feb. 21 as Dearborn’s last-second shot misses to end the Class A North championship game in favor of Hampden Academy at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Resident Tim Lawrence debates one of the early warrant items July 11 during the Pittston Town Meeting in the pulling ring at the Pittston Fairgrounds. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Levy Swartzentruber, right, leads his carriage carrying his family and hauling canoes to their home in Whitefield after spending the morning Aug. 27 fishing on Clary Lake in Jefferson. Swartzentruber, 23, said he took up paddling and casting after relocating from Aroostook County a few years ago and tries to fish every day. A metal roofer by trade, he occasionally sets out at dawn with a team of horses and pair of aluminum canoes to chase bass on the Kennebec River in Gardiner, he said. The 30 mile trips are a preview of a trip he’s been planning for a year. “I want to go deep sea fishing,” he said. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal  

Dee Dee Bailey makes a heart gesture to students in a vehicle April 15 during meal distributions at Laura E. Richard School in Gardiner. Staffers prepared and distributed the meals for students on Mondays and Wednesdays while students were doing remote learning and the school buildings were closed because of COVID-19 pandemic. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Winthrop senior captains Natalie Frost, left, and Aaliyah Wilson-Falcone celebrate just after time runs out in Class C South championship game Feb. 22 at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Firefighters work to extinguish any hot spots left in walls on Feb. 29 at a 12-unit apartment building fire at 36 Malta St. in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Cony’s Grace Kirk paces herself during a tri-meet Sept. 25 at Cony Middle and High School in Augusta. There would usually have spectators cheering her on from behind the flags, but no spectators were allowed at the event because of coronavirus crowd size restrictions. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Birds swarm around as the compactor rolls over piles of fresh garbage March 19 at Hatch Hill landfill in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Hall-Dale Elementary School second grader Eloise Fisher, 7, attends a virtual class Sept. 23 while her brother, Henry, 14, works on a lesson at their Farmingdale home.  Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal  

A Cony High School volleyball player offers a spike to teammates during a Oct. 5 game against Messalonskee High School in Augusta. Games are usually held inside but were held outdoors because of coronavirus pandemic. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal  

Josh Jacobson, 15, rides his dirt bike down the center of an empty Water Street on April 16 in Gardiner at noon time. Most of the shops are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Jacobson said he’s taking his high school freshman classes at home. Outside his lessons, Jacobson said he’s mastered wheelies on his bike. “I can go the whole length of the street now,” he said. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal  

Fans watch from separate socially distanced circles during Cony at Gardiner field hockey game Oct. 8 at Alex Somerville Field in Gardiner. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

West Gardiner firefighter Mike Gross watches Dec. 1  as town Road Commissioner Gary Hickey unclogs a storm basin that flooded the Bog Road. Fire, municipal and utility crews worked overnight to restore power, remove trees and open flooded roads across Maine. Hickey utilized a logging truck from his family’s firm to haul sticks out of the basin. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Angela Carey, left, is reflected in bay window as she reaches out to her mother, Gloria Carey, during her 93rd birthday party on April 17 at Hillside Manor in Hallowell. Friends and family weren’t allowed to visit inside because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hallowell Police and Fire departments led a parade of about 25 cars that Gloria Carey watched through the window. After family and friends parked cars they held signs and stood outside, 6 feet apart, and sang her “Happy Birthday.” Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, left, takes oath of office from House Clerk Robert Hunt on Dec. 2 in the Augusta Civic Center on opening day of the 130th Maine Legislature. Each representative had their own personal table in the auditorium. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal  Buy this Photo

The Rev. Kerry R. Mansir delivers a sermon April 26 from the altar at Christ Church Episcopal Church in Gardiner. Her family were the only people present at the livestreamed service at the church that was built in 1820. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Dom’s Barbershop proprietor Patty Burnett, left, cuts Lou Meader’s hair as barber Julie Keithley clips Ron Grotton’s scalp May 6 at the Hallowell establishment that has welcomed walk-in customers since 1936. Complying with rules to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Burnett requires customers to make appointments by phone and wear face masks with only two people allowed to sit for a trim at the same time in barber chairs 6 feet apart. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Wren Circo, 6, leaps over the a sprinkler and a pile of logs she assembled May 28 in the front yard of her Hallowell home. Circo said she likes to hit the water obstacle course at least three times a week for an hour. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

People chant during the Black Lives Matter protest June 7 in Augusta. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal  Buy this Photo

Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, speaks from the rostrum after winning the election on Dec. 2 in the Augusta Civic Center on opening day of the 130th Maine Legislature. Each representative had their own personal table in the auditorium that hosts games in the annual high school basketball tournament. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo

Camden Hill’s Ian Henderson celebrates winning the 145-pound finals Feb. 1 during a KVAC wrestling tournament at Cony High School in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal   Buy this Photo