Some Tucson snowbirds stayed through pandemic year, others did not return

Winter visitor Edna Koller stayed in Tucson for the first time last summer, not returning to her home in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on the upper peninsula of the U.S.-Canada border.

But the longtime winter resident said she is planning to return home to Michigan soon.

“I stayed because it was safer than to travel back home because of the pandemic and the rising numbers of cases last year,” said Koller, 84. The retired office worker for Cloverland Electric Cooperatives travels by air in and out of Tucson each year.

She first visited Voyager RV Resort on Tucson’s southeast side in 1988 and bought a park model home where she has lived part-time for more than two decades.

“The summer was hot and dry, and I survived,” said Koller of the triple-digit heat that snowbirds typically flee from each year when they return to their homes in cooler climes.

Koller has received her COVID-19 vaccines, but still washes her hands, wears a mask and practices social distancing when she goes grocery shopping or leaves her home.

When she and a close circle of friends, who are all vaccinated, gather at her home for visits, to share a meal or play cards, they do not wear masks but do social distance around a large table. “It is difficult not to hug friends, but we do it for our safety,” said Koller. “We have been fortunate and none of us have gotten sick.”

The residents in the park no longer gather for knitting groups, potluck meals or games. There are outdoor activities such as golf, swimming and pickleball that do attract seniors to the safer settings. Seniors are taking precautions seriously, said Koller, explaining that she seldom goes out to eat at restaurants. The few times she has — she has eaten outdoors.

Some snowbirds did not return

This winter was different from past ones for Koller and other snowbirds. Many of their Canadian and some U.S. friends did not leave their cold country homes to bask in Arizona’s warm climate as they have done for years.

“Nine of my neighbors who are Canadian did not come this winter and friends from four U.S. states also did not come. And this is just from my end of the street,” said Koller.

Management from Voyager RV Resort did not say how many winter visitors stayed away this season.

Canadian visitors spend nearly $1 billion annually in Arizona says Tourism Economics, according to the Arizona Office of Tourism.

“We don’t have specific numbers yet, but preliminary data estimates that Canadian overnight visitation and spending both fell by about 60% from 2019 to 2020,” said Josh Coddington, a spokesman for the state tourism office.

Travel restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border for those driving were in place last year, and Canadians also worried about their supplemental health-care insurance not covering them if they came down with COVID-19, said Koller. Others feared the virus outbreak in the United States.

So Koller’s Canadian friends and others from states across the country who were cautious about travel because of the pandemic stayed away from Southern Arizona.

Koller plans to fly back to Michigan next month or in early May, and then return in October.

“The worst is that I miss my friends and family. I miss their hugs, the human touch,” said Koller of loved ones in Sault Ste. Marie.

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Others made hesitant returns

Other winter visitors from Wisconsin, Colorado and Michigan made their annual trip to Southern Arizona this past winter, and plan to hit the road back to cooler country within the next two months.

For Charles “Chuck” Hill of Eagle River, Wisconsin, he left Green Valley hesitantly last May worried about the pandemic, but returned safely in October. The retiree from a communications company in Naperville, Illinois, and his wife journeyed in a Chevrolet Suburban and visited family in Washington and Oregon before arriving at their home in Green Valley.

“People were more aware and cautious about the coronavirus” taking necessary measures to stay safe this past fall, much more then they were last summer, said Hill, 82, noticing others during his travels.

As a member of the fire corps for the Green Valley Fire District, Hill volunteered at vaccine drive-thru sites at the Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital. He received his injections in January and February, and continues to enjoy mountain biking on trails in Southern Arizona with Bob Nicholson, 76, of Grand Junction, Colorado; Bruce Gallagher, 70, of Rifle, Colorado; and Dale Sonnenberg, 72, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

“We all have been going out on our triweekly rides,” said Nicholson, a retired college professor from the department of biological sciences in Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. “There is only one friend from Canada who did not make it back this fall.”

The pandemic has changed how they gather to ride. There is no more car pooling to the bike trails, everyone goes in their own vehicles.

Nicholson said most of the bike riders have received their vaccines and the cyclists may gather and car pool and enjoy drinks and outdoor meals together before they leave Southern Arizona for their trips to their summer homes.

“Having a beer or cold drink and a sandwich or burrito and socializing after our ride is a big part of biking,” said Nicholson, who along with his wife, Sandra, own a house in Green Valley and have wintered there for six years. Sandra, 75, is a retired high school chemistry teacher.

“We do not wear masks when biking, but we do social distancing,” he said, adding that most riders in their groups have electric-assist mountain bikes.

Gallagher, a retired middle school counselor, and his wife, Sharon, 68, a retired school district nurse, live out of their 2010 Dynamax motor home at De Anza RV Resort in Amado. They have stayed at the resort for the past six years. About 10 couples from Canada did not make it back to the campground this winter, and they are missed, said Bruce Gallagher.

The energetic couple, who both volunteered at vaccine sites in Nogales, Arizona, enjoy the sunny days in Southern Arizona and when Bruce is not mountain biking on the trails with his friends, he is kayaking with Sharon at Peña Blanca Lake.

“The feel at De Anza is very different. There are no longer dances here, the restaurant is closed and when we play pickleball on occasion we are wearing masks and the ball is sanitized,” said Bruce.

Sonnenberg, a retired businessman, and his wife, Carol, 70, a retired nurse, also volunteered at vaccine sites with the fire corps of the Green Valley Fire District.

The two wanted to give back to the community, and when they are not volunteering at vaccine sites, Dale is out on mountain bike trails with fellow cyclists in Amado, Arivaca, Patagonia, Vail, Tucson and Green Valley. Carol is out on hiking trails with fellow outdoor enthusiasts throughout Tucson and surrounding areas.

“A year ago we did not feel comfortable going out to eat or to the grocery store because of the pandemic,” said Dale Sonnenberg.

“But now, we will start resuming those activities with caution,” said Dale, adding that he and his wife were vaccinated.

In Arizona, the U.K. and the Brazilian strains of the virus have arrived, according to news reports. “You can’t worry about everything. We have done the best we can, and we still will wear masks going out into public places and will wear masks all summer because not everyone is practicing safety precautions,” said Dale.

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