Cold weather invokes memories of Blizzard of ‘78
On February 5th I could not help but think of the Blizzard of 78. I think anyone who lived through it thinks about it. We have had storms since then, but nothing compares to that day.
We lived in a tenement house, on the third floor. I remember going to work thinking it was not going to be too bad. The weather man always gives us the worse possible outcome but usually it is never that bad. I think that was the last year I thought that.
I only worked 1 mile down the road from the house. Mom dropped me off and headed out to do her errands. When it started to snow, we all noticed that it was coming down pretty heavy. At noon our bookkeeper went to the bank and when she came back, she was panic stricken. She went right into the boss’s office and said everyone should go home now or we might not be able to get home. Thankfully he agreed. Since she lived near me, she offered to take me home. It took us over a half hour to go the one mile from the office to the house. She dropped me off and pulled out onto Prospect St just in time to miss the rush of cars coming down the road. I think everyone got out of work at the same time.
Once inside we just sat it out knowing mom and I were safe and figuring we would be able to get out tomorrow. Well, that was not going to be the case. When it finally stopped snowing a day or more later there was over three feet of snow on the grounds with drifts over five feet. Prospect St was not passable in fact none of the street were passable. People did try to dig out their cars, but you were not going to go anywhere when you cleared it. I was a lot younger then and shoving was actually fun. Everyone was out working on clearing their cars and areas. We were laughing, sliding, and snow throwing.
Since Prospect St was a main road leading to Memorial Hospital it did get cleared before the side street did. They came by with big machines to pick up the snow and put it in trucks to haul it away. People got out their sleds and walked to local stores to get food and other things they needed. Neighbors helped each other no only in clearing the areas but when they made their trips to the store, they would check to see if someone needed something at the store. We had a neighbor, two houses back, that had a plow on his pickup truck. By the second day he decided to plow out to Prospect St. It took a lot of time and lots of hits, but he did get out.
I worked in an insurance office and really needed to get to the office, but it would be a week before I could get there.
In 1982 I purchased the house across the street from the three family where we lived. Mom was having a hard time going up the three flights of stairs and I knew I had to have a one-story house. When the bungalow when up for sale I jumped at getting it.
I purchased the house in October, so it wasn’t long before the first snow storm. Clearing the walkway and the driveway was fun. I have to say after a few years of shoving the driveway by myself (I have a long driveway) and the walkways, the fun wore off. I soon purchased a small electric snow blower but that wasn’t much fun either. I soon disliked snow.
Thankfully my wonderful cousins Jenn and Jay started shoving me out and then Cousin Mike and his big snowblower took over. I know now I could never do it myself.
We have had some big storms & blizzards since 1978 but nothing has come close to the 78 Blizzard. This year has been pretty light on the snow side but from what I hear Tuesday we are in for a good snowstorm.
Have a great week – Happy Valentine’s Day – if you see us “Around Town” be sure to say Hi.