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IN THESE UNCERTAIN TIMES, A CELEBRATION OF CREATIVE PEOPLE, INSPIRING ACTS, NATURAL BEAUTY AND MUCH-NEEDED GOOD NEWS

THE FRONT STEPS P PROJECT During the early days of quarantine, friends Kristen Collins and Cara Soulia began photographing their Needham, Mass., community to foster connection and collect dona- tions for small busi- nesses. The project E spread across the country (at left, the Roman family of Pelham, N.Y.), in raising over $3.35 million and inspiring a photo book, out america late November.

58 November 2, 2020 ACCIDENTALLY WES ANDERSON Inspired by a popular Instagram account, this coffee-table book showcases joy- inducing locations across the globe that would look right at home in the stylized films of the Grand Budapest Hotel director. DOLLY PARTON’S HOLIDAY MUSICAL Consider this your first gift of the season: The country icon’s movie Christmas on the Square premieres Nov. 22 on .

A Mask for Bacon Lovers Proof that there is a face covering for every one: Hormel Foods is offering a chance to win its latest innovation—a meat-scented face mask. The best part of A Mellow Mood pork-infused PPE? For Goes Viral Signs of Autumn every entry, Hormel Nathan Apodaca on a Leaf peepers, will donate one meal to skateboard, drinking a rejoice! It’s peak Feeding America. bottle of Ocean Spray season for fall-foliage Cran-Raspberry road trips. The Blue while lip-synching Ridge Parkway, to Fleetwood Mac. seen here, provides Beatrice Lumpkin casts her vote Somehow, the bizarro 469 miles of vibrant, In an effort that should inspire every voter, the 102-year-old Chicago TikTok video was forget-the-news resident donned a hazmat suit designed by her grandson to mail her the vibe we were distractions through ballot amid the pandemic. Lumpkin, a retired teacher, has voted in every all chasing. Apodaca North Carolina presidential election since 1940, when she backed FDR. received a new truck and Virginia. from Ocean Spray for his unique contri- Sam Smith bution and inspired The 28-year-old plenty of imita- four-time Grammy tors—including Mick winner releases Fleetwood himself. a long-awaited third album, LoveGoes, on Oct. 30. CLOROX WIPES Like a once- endangered species flourishing in the wild, these handy disinfecting wipes are (slowly) reappearing on shelves. COUNTERCLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: NETFLIX; COURTESY LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY(2); GETTY IMAGES; GETTY IMAGES; AND COMPANY(2); LITTLE, BROWN COURTESY NETFLIX; RIGHT: TOP FROM COUNTERCLOCKWISE IMAGES VINCE CALIGIURI/GETTY STEPS PROJECT; FRONT PHOTOGRAPHY/THE MCLAUGHLIN JAYE

November 2, 2020 59 reasons for H O P E in america

THE RETURN OF THE DRIVE-IN In response to closed theaters and delayed film releases, a charming relic of the MELCON/ TIMES/GETTY IMAGES; JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES; BRUCE GLIKAS/FILMMAGIC; OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: SEAN

past is providing safe social distancing. THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: COURTESY @MY_LITTLE_LIMES; COURTESY @FROMTRAUMA2HEALING; COURTESY @JESSKDUDS; DON ANDERSON; MEL Places like Walmart have joined in, screening favorites like E.T. and The Wizard of Oz for free at 160 locations nationwide. M. HAFFEY/GETTY IMAGES; GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO; FLINT COMMUNITY LAB; MARK CUTHBERT/GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY ERIC MORABITO

Rick Moranis Is Back! The Ghostbusters star, 67, reemerged after a two-decade hiatus, CREATIVE appearing in a Mint COSTUMES The Salvation Pumpkin Spice Mobile commercial This year the spookiness Army Like cooler with Ryan Reynolds will require six feet of space, The bell ringers temperatures and and also signing on but judging by the costume will be out in force changing leaves, the for a Honey, I Shrunk trends emerging on social two months early seasonal flavor is a the Kids reboot with media, Halloween is definitely in anticipation of a sure sign of fall. This Josh Gad. Memo still on as scheduled. Expect 155 percent increase year you can find it to Hollywood: Make plenty of loving tributes to in need this season. in everything from up for lost time Joe Exotic, Baby and To donate, visit lattes to Twinkies— and put this man Ruth Bader Ginsburg. salvationarmyusa.org. even mac and cheese. in every movie.

A farming community pulls together When Lane Unhjem was hospitalized in September after suffering a heart attack on his farm near Crosby, N.D., roughly 60 of his neighbors banded together to harvest his crops— 1,000 acres’ worth of wheat and canola—ensuring that Unhjem’s family avoided a crippling financial loss. Wrote neighbor Don Anderson in a Facebook post: “What a great sense of pride we can all have knowing that when we face something like this, we’re not alone.”

HERO TEACHERS Whether instructing in person or remotely via Zoom, educators like Gladys Alvarez (waving to her fifth graders from Manchester Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles) are finding new ways to inspire, engage and educate young people.

60 November 2, 2020 The Earthshot Prize Sir David Attenborough and Prince William recently announced a “Nobel Prize for environmentalism,” with $65 million to be awarded over the next decade to developers of evidence-based solutions to pressing climate challenges.

Feed the Polls THE TEENS SOLVING If you don’t know FLINT’S WATER CRISIS when your next meal will be, standing in The Flint Community Water Lab, launched with the help a long line to vote can of local high schoolers (including Damerion Coulter, be a daunting task. 18, above), assists in testing water quality in 20,000 This initiative aims homes, getting vital information to the community. to serve 50,000 meals at polling places across the country, specifically those in food-insecure areas. Eric Morabito The Antidote Every year, to From filmmakers raise money for Kahane Cooperman Shriners Hospitals and John Hoffman, for Children, this documentary this 57-year-old (available on demand metrologist walks Oct. 27) highlights from Highland, N.Y., how humanity and to hospital locations compassion are a salve in Springfield and to our divisive times. Boston, Mass., a distance of roughly Hallmark Movie 250 miles. Morabito Checklist solicits donations PET ADOPTION ’Tis the season for via GoFundMe and In the wake of stay-at- Hallmark originals— relies on the kindness home orders, Americans and for this handy of strangers for are finding more time app that organizes food and lodging— for furry friends. In every premiere, from and after seven treks March, New York-based October Kiss to has collected more nonprofit Foster Dogs Jingle Bell Bride. than $60,000. Inc. reported a 1,000 percent increase in applications.

THE WORLD SERIES The Rays face the Dodgers at a neutral location with limited spectators, but even the pandemic couldn’t derail this matchup.

CHLOE FINEMAN’S IMPERSONATIONS She’s a master impressionist on SNL, but Fineman’s best celebrity caricatures come on Instagram (@ChloeIsCrazy), including eerie- good send-ups of (from left to right) Drew Barrymore, Timothée Chalamet and Britney Spears. Her hilarious parodies prove that, even in dark times, nothing hits the spot like a good laugh. •

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