You see it on television – small businesses closing their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the nation. But it only happens in those other places, not your own neighborhood and not to someone who has become a friend to the community.

This friend, Dave Soska, owner of Allentown Bethlehem Goose, formerly Allentown Goose, was one of the first to say “yes” when a gift certificate was needed for a community fundraiser.

Yet when his business needed assistance due to COVID-19, help did not arrive.

Soska decided to close his business the first week of April.

In 1995, Soska bought the existing Goosey Gander on Emmaus Avenue in Salisbury Township. In 2001, the name was changed to the Allentown Goose. In 2011, the business storefront closed, catering continued and the business reopened in 2013 as the Allentown Bethlehem Goose, 2501 Willow Park Road, Bethlehem.

On March 23, when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf issued a stay-at-home order as COVID-19 was becoming more prevalent in the United States, Soska remained open as an essential business.

“The virus count was not too bad,” Soska said. “I tried to muddle through it, but immediately customers dropped. I was planning on staying open for a couple of weeks, but no one expected this to go on as long as it has.”

He, like others, saw the news reports announcing available funds for small businesses including a payroll protection loan.

As Soska evaluated the process to apply, he watched the customer count rapidly dwindle as residents did not leave their homes.

“Catering just stopped and the price was too high to get those government loans,” Soska said.

“This was the first March in 25 years where I had no catering jobs booked for the summer.”

Weddings, graduations, funerals and other events have all been canceled or postponed.

“The government promised this $10,000 forgiven loan,” he explained. “I applied for that loan at the end of March and received an email confirmation on May 3 saying they received my application.”

Soska said he had to let go most of his six staff plus the many others who assist with catering events.

At the end of March he was preparing to close temporarily, as the COVID-19 cases grew in number and the government grant money ran out. In the first week of April, he decided to close permanently.

Soska knows he is not alone in these uncertain times.

“My insurance agent told me he lost six restaurants so far and he is just one broker. My friends tell me they have heard of many other businesses that have closed their doors as well.”

Soska said he does not know of any small business that received the government money earmarked for small businesses.

“Twenty-six percent of that money went to big business,” Soska said. “It was supposed to be for the small guys like me.”

“I know of a business that was approved for a loan, got a letter saying it was approved and then a couple days later received another letter saying no funds were available. The letter said if funds become available, ‘you can reapply.’”

Soska understands the frustration of business owners who want to open but he doesn’t see how opening is going to solve anything.

“How are restaurants supposed to survive with less seating?”

Soska said his landlord would have worked with him, but now landlords are stuck with properties they won’t rent.

“Businesses are closing. I realized I wouldn’t have catering for one or two years and taking a loan wouldn’t have solved the problem.”

His catering involved events with the school districts, youth associations, parent teacher organizations, fire companies, funeral homes, FedEx, 99 The Hawk, Trans-Bridge Lines, school district busing companies and more. With many of these groups meeting remotely for the foreseeable future, catering has ceased.

“I’ve enjoyed being part of each community I’ve served which is why I always provided gift certificates for fundraisers,” he said. “I did it because it was important to be part of the community. But when these small businesses needed support, the government didn’t come through,” Soska said.

“You think you have enough insurance to cover times like this for the loss of business and food and interruption of services, but even the insurance companies are slow to respond. Most of the claims have been denied, including mine.”

When Soska made the decision to close, $6,000 in food was thrown away or donated. He said there was no benefit to staying open – he was not making enough to pay the staff.

“Catering is not going to come back for a long time. Large gatherings will be restricted and people won’t have money,” Soska said. “When we come out of this, there will be a new normal.”

His suppliers have also felt the crunch and his garbage collector has been hauling away unused produce from customers.

Soska does not know what his future holds.

“Everything is up in the air,” Soska said. “When will it be safe to open up a type of business I’m accustomed to running?”

This is the business he has been in since a youth at his parents’ luncheonette in Bethlehem. He has gone from working six to seven days a week to not working at all.

“Everything has just stopped,” he said. “I believe with this pandemic it will be about two years before things get back to normal. It will be a long time before it is safe.”