By Mike Letendre

Last Saturday afternoon, I took my family out for a little treat.

During COVID-19, doing something special for my two favorite redheads, Danielle and my main man Asa, isn’t always in the cards.

However, that Saturday was a bit different.

We headed up Interstate 91 to a little city called Springfield in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

And just minutes after crossing over the Connecticut state border, my three year old started to chant ‘basketball, basketball!’

For the first time, Asa got a glimpse of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame building.

As we got closer to the facility, my son was astonished that the building was shaped like a basketball.

But, full disclosure, I didn’t go to Springfield for the HOF.

Alas, it was a food-driven affair.

I promised my wife a little UNO Pizzeria & Grill – something you can’t get in Connecticut anymore – which is at the end of the HOF parking lot.

We bought a couple appetizers and a chocolate cookie sundae for dessert as we dined in front of the HOF, away from people and the like.

And there’s nothing wrong tailgating outside the home of basketball legends.

When I was a boy scout with Troop 29, then based out of Northeast Middle School, the Basketball HOF was our usual October trip.

I’ve always been a huge basketball fan and that trip was always a special one to me.

Troop 29 made a pretty nice day of it: The Basketball HOF in the morning and early afternoon, lunch at Burger King (I don’t know why that’s important) and a trip to the former Indian Motorcycle Museum on Hendee Street in Springfield.

But the highlight was always the Basketball HOF and even during COVID-19, it’s a place I’d consider visiting.

And it appears making a trip to the HOF during these strange times is as safe as going to the market or store down the street.

Simply put, the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF isn’t fooling around during COVID-19.

“The Hall of Fame is focused and committed to providing a safe, clean and healthy environment for all museum guests and staff,” according to the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF website. “As we continue to monitor the pandemic on an hourly basis, we have, and will continue to, meet with leaders in the government, attraction industry and various experts.  We are fully committed to not only abiding by, but exceeding the phased roll out and safety protocols that have been put in place throughout the state of Massachusetts.”  

In fact, there’s a whole list the “CLEAN TEAM” there has to complete to keep guests safe.

That means hourly sanitizing of all major touch points including handrails, door knobs, counter tops, bathroom faucets, elevator buttons and other highly touched surfaces

Complimentary disposable face masks for all guests and new hand sanitizer stations spread prominently throughout the museum continue to add another layer of safety to the facility.

Technology plays a part which includes electrostatic disinfectant air mist backpack system, hands free soap and paper towel dispensers being installed in all restrooms and a new HEPA floor cleaning equipment for all carpeted surfaces.

Are we on the Starship Enterprise with all this technology? No, it’s just the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF.

There’s even a new laundry facility on site for cleaning and disinfecting sanitation materials daily (they have to keep NBA Hall of Famer, and former Boston Celtics’ star Kevin McHale’s wool underwear exhibit as clean as possible).

And there’s all the things you’d expect in a public building during COVID-19 like designated foot traffic patterns to facilitate social distancing, way finding signage to eliminate congestion and cross patterns of traffic and social distancing reminders spread throughout museum.

Of course, the facility sanitizes every basketball following guest use (there’s a huge gymnasium where you can, of course, shoot hoops at the HOF).

With all the interactive games, stories and videos to watch, I was curious how the HOF was handling those exhibits – meaning multiple touch screens to play.

It’s all under control as all guests at the HOF receives a complimentary stylus device to use on all touch screen applications throughout the museum.

Look, we can all hunker down in our homes, bar the windows, and turn on Netflix for another epic adventure with Borat.

Well, you and your family can still do that.

But if you’re safe, wear your mask, and take precautions, there’s a special basketball Hall of Fame about 45 minutes away from Bristol that would make one heck of a day trip.

I highly recommend it, even if you just want to experience the Kevin McHale underwear exhibit.

For further information on the HOF, go to hoophall.com.