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Philadelphia and suburban
counties surpass 5%, which the
CDC considers dangerous.

“We’re definitely getting
nervous,” said
Michelle Durinzi,
the marketing
director for Robert Ryan
Catering in Collegeville, which
also operates three wedding
and bar/bat mitzvah venues in
the suburbs. “We’d be silly not
to after the past year.”
According to Durinzi, the
company’s October schedule
is the busiest in its 29-year
history, with 41 weddings.

Due to cancellations, in
2020 Robert Ryan’s revenue
plummeted $2
million compared to a normal year.

Revenue is still down about
$1.5 million for 2021 due to
COVID capacity limits from
the first half of the year.

Half of the company’s
events for 2021 are booked
for September and October.

All are going to be open to
capacity crowds of more than
125 people ... at least for now.

“We’ll just keep crossing our
fingers,” Durinzi said. “We’ll
see what comes and address it
when it comes up.”
Some owners and managers,
though, are not waiting to
make contingency plans.

At the Artesano Gallery in
Philadelphia, Jewish owners
COVID Continued from Page 6
its most at-risk patients.

Then, Jewish Family &
Children’s Service of Greater
Philadelphia reached out and
asked if the hospital could
vaccinate area Holocaust survi-
vors. So, Sivak’s team moved
the operation to Einstein’s
Elkins Park facility and vacci-
nated a few hundred survivors.

Later, Philadelphia asked
the network to help inoculate
SEPTA workers. So, Sivak’s
team vaccinated between 800
and 1,000 of the region’s most
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Jaime and Mildred Kaplan
will soon meet with their event
manager, Talia Kassie, to decide
on official delta variant proto-
cols for their packed September
and October schedule.

The facility already requires
employees to show proof of
vaccination or a negative
COVID test from the past 72
hours before each shift. Then,
when they are on duty, all
unvaccinated employees need
to wear masks.

Kassie said she is already
starting to ask couples to
make the same requests of
their wedding guests. Most
are happy to do it to keep
their weddings on schedule.

Some, though, have already
postponed their big days.

The event manager wants
Philadelphia to implement
public restrictions, like New
York City’s proof of vaccina-
tion requirement for indoor
activities, to take some of the
pressure off of venues.

“No one wants to be that
venue that becomes the super
spreader,” she said. “But we
don’t want to lose business,
either.” Susan Norcross, owner of
The Styled Bride, plans Jewish
and non-Jewish weddings in
Philadelphia, the Main Line
and New Jersey.

In a normal year, she books
20 to 30 weddings. In 2020,
she did just six, and most were
essential employees.

“We were vaccinating
anybody who came our way,”
Sivak said.

Finally, the city gave
Einstein a $300,000 grant
to open the Tabor Road site.

Almost 10,000 people have
gotten vaccinated there, Way
said. Einstein has vaccinated
about 60,000 in all.

Sivak credited other
hospital networks, like
Jefferson Health, Temple
Health and Penn Medicine,
for playing significant roles
in the local process, which
has inoculated millions.

micro-weddings with 12-20
guests. This year, she is on
track to throw more than 30
celebrations. “I’ve lost count,” Norcross
said. She also said she’s not too
worried. The fall of 2021 is
different from the spring of
2020. After the pandemic broke
out, the safest choice was to
postpone big events. But with
the vaccine, it’s possible to pull
off big parties even with the
delta variant and perhaps some
restrictions. Norcross has five weddings
in August, and only one has
seen a dropoff in confirmed
attendees due to the delta
variant. Many of The Styled
Bride’s couples have all
vaccinated guests. And, for
the most part, her partner
vendors’ employees are all
vaccinated. Some couples that don’t
have fully vaccinated guest lists
are starting to ask Norcross
about rapid testing.

“That’s the other thing: You
can ask guests to be rapid-
tested,” she said. “You can do
due diligence to see the family
members and friends that
you’re going to see.”
But Norcross acknowledged
that, just like in March 2020,
we still don’t know what’s to
come. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the
“Medical centers took on
the role because the city didn’t
have the infrastructure to do
it,” Sivak said.

The doctor said his
expanded role isn’t likely
to scale back anytime soon,
either. With the delta variant
causing a new round of cases
and restrictions, his goal now
is to get everyone vaccinated.

“If you get it from the delta
variant and are vaccinated,
you’re very unlikely to end up in
the hospital or die,” Sivak said. l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISH EXPONENT
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115 S. York Road, Hatboro 215.441.8966 Open Monday-Saturday 11-4
chief medical adviser to
President Joe Biden, is warning
that a new variant, one that
has proved adept at evading
COVID vaccines, may emerge
if more Americans don’t get
vaccinated. To date, about half
of the U.S. population is fully
vaccinated, according to CDC
numbers. “I can’t speculate,” Norcross
said. “But I do think over the
next several months, this is
going to be a new normal for
us as we try to figure out what
this looks like in the hospitality
industry.” l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
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AUGUST 12, 2021
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