Finding a silver lining in the pandemic

When non-essential businesses were forced to close last year at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Charles music instructor Andrew Bordoni was prepared — he already had been teaching classes online since 2018.

“I had a student who moved to the U.K. and wanted to continue his guitar lessons, so I started to do Skype lessons with him,” Bordoni, said. “And I had students who went off to college and they wanted to continue their lessons, so we did them remotely. So I was fully prepared.”

His story is just one example of how businesses across the country, and locally in the Fox Valley, were forced to pivot their operations in the face of the pandemic. Some businesses, including Bordoni’s, not only have survived during the pandemic, they have thrived.

Bordoni moved from Scotland to the United States in 2001, which is when he first started teaching music. He was born in England.

As the lockdown took effect, Bordoni reached out to his students and asked them to consider taking lessons online. He had about 30 students at the time and they were all taking lessons at his Sunrise Music Studio, which he operates out of his St. Charles home.

“Some of them have liked it so much that they haven’t gone back to being in-person,” he said. “And it’s because I’ve worked really hard on making the online lessons as close as possible to the in-person lessons.”

Bordoni admitted he was afraid he was going to lose a ton of business as the lockdown orders took effect.

“But that didn’t happen,” he said. “My business actually grew over the pandemic. It was phenomenal.”

Before the pandemic, Bordoni had been offering online lessons as an alternative for his students, especially if a conflict came up and they couldn’t get to their lesson.

“It forced people to try out the online format and it kind of opened up a new branch for me as what I am able to offer as a service,” he said.

Before the pandemic, St. Charles resident Bill Reichman, who is known as Bill the Baker, taught in-person classes at different locations around the St. Charles area. After switching to online classes following the start of the pandemic, he continues to offer only online classes.

And he sees himself only offering online classes for the foreseeable future.

“A number of the students that were taking my classes in-person started taking them online,” Reichman said. “And one by one, I would hear from them how much more beneficial it was for them to be in their own kitchen, using their own ovens. I started to focus on those benefits.”

But first Reichman had to learn a few things himself before he could teach online.

“I had to learn to be in front of a camera,” he said. “I was never in front of a camera when I worked. You really have to pay attention that you are in front a camera. It’s a little bit more complex because of the technology.”

And he has his share of hiccups involving technology.

“I’ve had the internet crash in the middle of a class,” Reichman said. “I had to get my cell phone out and use my cell phone as a hot spot. It throws curve balls at you that you don’t get in a live environment.”

He has had students from literally all over the world taking his online classes, including Mozambique, which is on the southeast coast of Africa, as well as Kuwait, Spain, Canada, Ireland and England.

“And of course from the United States coast to coast,” Reichman said.

Through his classes, he tries to teach students the science of baking.

“That’s my goal when you come to my class,” Reichman said. “I want to teach you the science of baking. I’m not teaching you how to bake a bagel or a chocolate chip cookie. I want you to understand what’s happening in the bowl and what’s happening in the oven.”

St. Charles resident Lisa Macaione’s 9-year-old daughter, Ellie, is taking his advanced baking class for children. They have taken classes together in the past.

Ellie has been in Reichman’s virtual classes since the start of the pandemic. She likes the fact the classes are online.

“It’s sort of easier for you to tell what’s going on,” Ellie said.

However, there are occasional technical glitches.

“Sometimes my microphone will cut off and stuff like that,” she said.

She recently learned how to make a s’mores pie.

Lisa Macaione complimented Reichman on his online classes.

“He does an amazing job with it,” she said. “He was the first person that we knew that even used Zoom and then everybody ended up using it for work. He has done just a great job. He’s really a clear communicator and he is really patient with the children. He’s really able to give them personalized attention even though it’s virtual.”

Ryan and Michelle Koehneke’s daughter, Alonna, a second-grade student at Wild Rose Elementary School, also is taking Reichman’s advanced baking class. The family lives in St. Charles.

The family started taking his classes during the pandemic. Ryan Koehneke said his daughter has learned a lot through the classes.

“She’s built this kind of bond with these kids and Bill,” he said. “It’s really been a cool thing. And I think she’s probably picked up a lifelong hobby without even knowing it yet.”

Alonna shares what she makes with the employees at Wild Rose.

“She has taken a lot of her treats to her teachers and the administrative staff,” Michelle Koehneke said.

Alonna said she is most proud of the apple pie and the cinnamon rolls that she made in the class.

Other businesses have similar stories on how they have been able to survive during the pandemic. The pandemic caused Chuck Osborne and his wife, Roxanne, to pivot operations at their bookstore, Harvey’s Tales, located at 216 James St. in downtown Geneva. The bookstore first opened its doors in October 2018.

“We were only a year-and-a-half old when the pandemic hit,” Roxanne Osborne noted. “I joked with people and said, ‘Yeah, that was probably in my year five or six plan, but certainly not in year one-and-a-half.’ ‘’

The store’s doors were closed in March and April 2020 after the state ordered non-essential businesses to close in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the bookstore started shipping a lot more and did delivery and curbside pickup.

Harvey’s Tales continues to ship books through bookshop.org, which works with independent bookstores.

“That was a tremendous help to us,” Roxanne Osborne said. “We were shipping a fair number of books out while we were closed and even through the end of the year. And we offered curbside delivery and local delivery for Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia when we were locked down. Doing what we could helped save the store. We had great support from our community.”

Since the state moved into a full reopening of businesses and activities in June, Osborne said she has seen more people come into the store. She believes the pandemic and its impact has helped make people realize the importance of local businesses.

“It refocused the attention on local businesses and the benefits of shopping small and shopping local,” Roxanne Osborne said. “There was a resurgence in the desire of people to support their local stores, no matter what the store was.”