Coronavirus canceled a wedding and band practice. But these friends didn’t give up – VC Star

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John Gahan stepped out of his Ventura home Tuesday night, his mandolin in his hand, and sat down on the porch.

It was 8 p.m. and he started to play.

He had gotten the idea earlier while talking over the phone withhis brother-in-law in Barcelona. In home isolation because of the new coronavirus, people in the city 6,000 miles away started takinginstruments out on their balconies and played each night at 8.

They did it in honor of all those working at hospitals and clinics to save lives, his brother-in-law told him and his wife.

"I thought I could do that from here," Gahan said.

The new virus hit Ventura later than Barcelona. As the number of cases rose locally, public health officials first urged social distancingand later ordered Californians to shelter at home.

Families, classmates, friends, bands, even neighbors were physically divided as lines grew and the shelves emptied at grocery stores. Schools were closed. Gyms, bars anddine-in restaurants followed suit.

Gatherings bigger than 250 people were canceled,then those with more than 50and finally more than 10.

Before Gahan started to play that first night,he crafted an email to his fellow members of a band called Pint of Irish.

"8:00 Tonight And Every Night I Can (For At Least A While)," he wrote in the subject line.

He toldhis bandmates what his brother-in-law had told him.

"Anyway, in honor of health care workers everywhere dealing with this, I'm going to do it tonight and every night that I can for a while," he wrote. "I'llgo out on my porch and bang out a couple tunes.If anybody is interested, join me from your porch. I'll be listening."

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The spot set up for a wedding at Lisa and Jeff Daniel's Santa Paula home.(Photo: Contributed photo/The Daniels)

On the same night in Santa Paula, Susie Yee stood with her husband, Dan, and watched their youngest get married.

A small group of family members sat inchairs or stood in the grass, a majestic oak tree nearby.

It wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

Laurie Yee and Landin Osbornegot engaged lastJune andhadaMarch 21 wedding scheduledata private residence and barn in Oxnard.

They had planned for nine months and felt lucky to find the spot just a mile from Laurie's childhood home. About 125 peoplewere coming, including family flying in from homes scattered around the country.

Deposits were made and then the new coronavirus swept through the U.S.

Family members who had planned to stick around after the wedding for a reunion of sortshad to cancel. The wedding also had to be called off.

"There were a lot of tears and disappointment," Susie Yee said.

But while the wedding day they planned was off,neither bride or groom wanted to wait to get married. However this crisis was going to play out, they said they wanted to go through it together.

Lisa Daniel read her friend Yee's Facebook message about the canceled wedding and reached out.

I thought, Well, they still want to get married and I have this big beautiful oak tree with green grass under it,' " she said.

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Susie and Dan Yee at the Santa Paula home where their youngest child got married last week. The bride and groom had to cancel the large wedding they had been planning for months because of the coronavirus.(Photo: Contributed photo/The Yees)

There wasnt room at the Daniels' Santa Paula home to host a big wedding. But a big wedding couldn't happen anymore.

"We trimmed everything way back," Susie Yee said. "But once we knew this was the place, it was like the clouds lifted."

The Daniels invited them to their home.A friend of her daughterdonated flowers from her farm. Another friend of the family gave them a reduced price for photos.

Even though everyone is going through tough times, Yee said, so many people put everything aside to make the night happen. And, it would happenrain or shine.

By 2 p.m. Tuesday,the raintapered off and the sun came out. Lisa and her husband, Jeff, dried off their patio chairs and set them up by the big oak, keeping them spaced apart.

I had a wooden table here in my house that I had actually hauled to San Francisco when my daughter got married for an outdoor wedding, she said. I just pulled that thing back out there, and we used it for another wedding.

In the end, most of thedetails didnt really matter.

There was a pastor.The bride had a dress, and the groom had a suit. He played a song he had written on his guitar while she walked down the aisle. Someone took video for everyone who wasn't able to be there.

"I swear it was like the best way to have a wedding," Yee said.

An old photo shows Pint of Irish practicing before coronavirus required social distancing.(Photo: Contributed photo/Mike McChesney)

At 8 on Wednesday night, Gerry McGuirecoaxed notes of a couple Irish songs from hisconcertina.

He couldn't hear the other members of Pint of Irish but knew they were out there.

The night after Gahan's email, ahalf-dozen or so played at their homes separated by miles or cities in some cases. By Thursday, the number had doubled, and on Friday night, a neighbor of the Gahans even joined in, playing a bongo drum.

Any weirdness about playing alone in the dark on his Venturapatio faded quickly, McGuire said."It's a good feeling to be doing something."

In his 80s, hehad taken the call to stay at home seriously.

"My wife had a doctor's appointment today. It was the first time we left the house since this happened," he said one day last week.

They have some family in the area and two neighbors already hadoffered to bring foodif or when they need it. One neighbor had posted some mailfor them.

"We're doing fine," McGuire said.

As he played "Merry Blacksmith" that night, his wife cheering him on from inside, he didn't know if his neighbors listened in.

"Nobody threw anything. I know that," McGuiresaid laughing."I didn't see anyone, but I imagine they were in awe."

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John Gahan, in the blue shirt, plays with Pint of Irish band members pre-coronavirus social distancing.(Photo: Contributed photo/John Gahan)

The band members choose the songs every day before 8. Mostly, they aim for up-tempo, happy tunes with some lilting melodies mixed in.

Group leader Mike McChesney, who plays the tin whistle from his Thousand Oaks porch, tried to find a video-conferencing program that they could use.

It hasn't been entirely successful, but it hasn't really mattered.

"Even though you're there kind of isolated in your front yard," he said, "you feel like you're part of a group."

That was kind of the point.

It is important to take what ishappening seriously, Gahan said. "But I also feel like life doesn't have to be dismal in such circumstances."

People can find ways to connect, check in on each other, save a weddingand maybe cheer on some health workers with a tune or two.

"It sounds like it really helps to unite people even if there is a physical distance," Gahan had typed in his message to the band.

Then, he had clicked send, grabbed a cushion and stepped outside to play.

Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.

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Coronavirus canceled a wedding and band practice. But these friends didn't give up - VC Star