Put it on the Board ... DEATH!

A suburban activist is helping his neighbors keep track of the national virus death toll, whether they want to or not

Some people say American life is all about keeping score. Lee Goodman is putting that adage to the test in perhaps the most heart-rending way possible.

The veteran Northbrook activist plans Friday afternoon to erect a scoreboard on a little patch of turf facing the downtown Northbrook Metra station. It’ll display the total number of U.S. Covid-19 deaths on it, and he plans to update it daily to keep people abreast of the world’s leader in the least-envied statistic imaginable.

“We’re #1,” Goodman’s scoreboard shouts. “U.S.A.” 

“It’ll be like those old-fashioned baseball scoreboards where they stick their heads out to change the numbers,” said Goodman, the driving force behind the Peaceful Communities group. He said the village of Northbrook granted him a 30-day permit for the scoreboard.

“Just because we have all these nice green lawns doesn’t mean that this pandemic can’t be devastating to the people who live here,” he added.

The disease, indeed, continues to strike close to home. As of last week, 502 Northbrook residents have tested positive and 42 have died of the disease.

Sept. 15, School District 28 emailed parents that “an individual at Greenbriar School” had tested positive for the virus the day before. In the email, district superintendent Larry Hewitt maintained that “federal and state privacy laws prohibit us from sharing more detailed information about any individual case” of viral infection.

“Close contacts” of the individual were undergoing 14-day quarantines, according to the district. Parents of Greenbriar students who were not informed their children were such close contacts were advised not to feel compelled to take any action.

They should just watch their children for symptoms and report to the school office if there are any. 

Greenbriar students either study remotely or in person, if parents prefer.

The school is a few blocks from Triangle Park, where Goodman’s scoreboard, when erected,  will include the line “Donald J. Trump, President” at the bottom.

Goodman, who once ran for Congress as a Democrat, did not include Trump’s name as a tribute.

“I have two main hopes” for the scoreboard, he said. “I want to put pressure on the federal government to act responsibly” in containing the pandemic. He said “other than some of the state governors, like ours, our government has totally botched it.

“I’m hoping it will remind people to think before they cast their ballot. And two, renew their efforts at personal protection,” he said. 

The scoreboard may be unorthodox, but it's not meant to turn tragedy into comedy, said Goodman’s wife Nancy, who worked on it with him.

“We’re not taking it lightly,” she said. “It’s terrible that the number keeps going up, and some people are still not wearing masks,” encouraged by some politicians.

“The fact that we have such horrible and disgraceful leadership is shocking.” 

“People are getting tired of hearing about it,” Lee Goodman said of the pandemic. But they need to be reminded, he said, if for no other reason than to remain diligent about mask-wearing and social distancing. The numbers of deaths keep increasing, and they may reach 200,000 even before he can get the scoreboard mounted at 3 p.m., he said.

The scoreboard is to be erected on a patch of municipally-owned grass at Shermer Road and Walters Avenue that was the home of a Christmastime creche for years, even though it had been the bane of village officials attempting to retain the separation of church and state. 

Triangle Park became a public forum accommodating one or two signs or displays after a 1996 village attempt at a federal anti-creche injunction looked like it was going to cost too much public money to obtain.

Goodman has been one of the most active users of the property’s eye-catching possibilities, notably during the run-up to the 2003 Iraq War. He had to replace his anti-war signs several times, as they were ripped down by pro-war vandals, including one who was caught by police who staked out the site.

This time, “I’m hoping people are more civil than that,” he said.

Northbrook Village President Sandy Frum said she, too, hoped no vandalism would occur. 

“But would I be surprised if that happened?” she asked.  “No.” 

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