Chris Bouchard hosts “COVID-19 Live Wedding Mixes” every Friday through August. He tries to give his customers something to dance to during these difficult times
MAINE, USA – Editor’s note: You’ve likely heard the phrase “flattening the curve” to help stem the tide of coronavirus cases. The video above explains what that means.
Mainers know too well how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting our condition. Restaurants and businesses have been hurting for weeks and are doing everything they can to get out of these difficult times.
Things outside of business are also affected. Sports events, graduations, and weddings are canceled or postponed as the state slowly reopens.
Tourists flock to Maine every year during the wedding season to celebrate their big day, but now these ceremonies and receptions are being postponed or canceled. No weddings mean no work for DJs like Chris Bouchard.
He had booked 34 weddings this season and said he had already lost 83 percent of his annual income.
“If things are slow to open up in August and even pushed into September, it could easily be 100 percent of my income by 2020,” Bouchard said.
After waiting for weeks, the self-employed Bouchard can now apply for unemployment and get help from the paycheck protection program.
“I’m grateful the programs are there. I just wish they were made a little faster,” added Bouchard.
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Katie Fioerlla’s wedding was postponed from August to the next. She and her fiancée Jon Calder chose Bouchard as their DJ because of her energy and personality.
“That is of course important when you have a DJ, you are a kind of front and center next to me,” said Fioerlla.
Although the couple postponed their special day, they don’t have to wait a year to hear Bouchard play his favorite music.
From Friday and every week until August, Bouchard is holding “COVID-19 Virtual Wedding Mixes”.
“There’s a sense of normalcy on either side when I do things for brides, and the brides really do something for me by taking inquiries and doing what I love to do,” Bouchard said.
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Bouchard added that the reason for the virtual mixes was to keep things as normal as possible in a time of uncertainty and confusion.
“[I want to provide] a sense of normalcy, whether it’s three minutes for their first dance that they can’t do this year, or whether they want to hang out for the full two hours. ”
Every mix is ??streamed on Facebook, Twitch, Youtube and other streaming services. The weekly Friday mixes start at 8 p.m.
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At NEWS CENTER Maine, we focus our coverage on the facts, not the fear of the disease. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section here: / coronavirus
NEWS CENTER reporting on Maine Coronavirus
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