Thanks, Bob, for an attractive alternate life-style. Sounds good to me! Jo - in super cold Michigan *-) ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 8:19 PM Subject: [FOLKS] Re: NYNIAGAR-FOLKS-D Digest V04 #7 > Vee and all you cold ones. > > What you do with the RV lifestyle is up to you. Having done several tours in > a RV I can attest that if you join the knitting crowdf you have problems. I > can suggest several places for snowbirding that would drain all your energy with > things to do. Start with Bracketville TX. Then add the gulf coast. Big Bend > National Park if you like the crowded lifestyle. S California for anything you > can think of and Baja California for a completely different experience. BTW no > knitting allowed at any of my suggested places. There are internet > connections everywhere. > > Bob AZ > > And FWIW I had to run the AC in my PU a few days ago. > >

Vee and all you cold ones. What you do with the RV lifestyle is up to you. Having done several tours in a RV I can attest that if you join the knitting crowdf you have problems. I can suggest several places for snowbirding that would drain all your energy with things to do. Start with Bracketville TX. Then add the gulf coast. Big Bend National Park if you like the crowded lifestyle. S California for anything you can think of and Baja California for a completely different experience. BTW no knitting allowed at any of my suggested places. There are internet connections everywhere. Bob AZ And FWIW I had to run the AC in my PU a few days ago.

Hi Vee and all, My husband gets a bit cranky about weather -- always saying this is "the coldest" (or "snowiest") winter he can remember and it's somehow *my* fault (I'm native to Western New York, born in Bflo and live in Avon, south of Rochester. So while I feel for my in-laws in CT with their absolutely horrible Nor'easters and frigid temps, at least I can say, pointing at the national weather map, "Oh, yeah?" Anyone else know some Weather Channel addicts? I can be peacefully watching TV when suddenly, there's the Weather Channel and I know He Who Controls the Remote is back. Then the weekly forecast -- as if moaning about the temperature will make it warmer! And when it changes, forget it -- it's as if a promise was broken! Only 2 degrees instead of 8!! I wanted to mention that while I hate this cold, I'll take it versus the huge blizzards of my past. When I was just a kid of 20 something I taught out in South Buffalo and often took the bus to work from Elmwood Ave. in bad weather. The trip took an hour most snowy days -- I read a lot of Russian novels then as it seemed appropriate. That year (1979) my car was buried under snow for a week -- my 6th graders helped me find it among all the other snow-covered mounds on the side street where it was parked. The Blizzard of '77 gave me bragging rights for years in my family -- it somehow proved you were tough to have gone through it. Does anyone else remember Mayor Jimmy Griffin's famous advice to "buy a six-pack and stay home"? After last year's extreme Buffalo winter, I realized I no longer had the stamina for such adventures and even felt a little guilty for not being there for the really big snow. And no one cancels college classes anymore here in Rochester -- my poor students at Rochester Institute of Technology are the tough ones for making it to class no matter what. Their little brothers and sisters all had the day off. Who says kids today have no work ethic? Time for some hot tea. Be warm, wherever you are! Mary Hess

Vee, I have recently joined this list and am enjoying the cold weather stories. I live in sunny southern Vermont so I know the cold too. It has been really cold here for about a week but I think we have been spoiled by a winter that has been warmer than normal up to now. We have not had snow to contend with however, just a dusting now and again. One cold weather tip, to keep your fingers warm wear mittens instead of gloves. Those fingers need each other to keep warm. Ruth At 10:22 PM -0500 1/15/04, Vee L. Housman wrote: >Dear Folks, > >I've lived Western New York for many, many years and every one of those >years had six seasons--Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter and WINTER!!! >I know that at my age I tend to forget some of the small details of the >past but I SWEAR this winter is one of the most bitterly cold ones we've >ever had. If any one of you can refresh my memory of a winter that was >colder than this one, let me know the details. I'd appreciate it. (OK, I >do admit that in February 1979 the temperature dipped down to the unheard >of minus 21 degrees!) >I got the chance to warm up in B-Kwik and then managed to load all of my >groceries in my car. In spite of wearing gloves, my fingers were freezing >to death by the time I got behind the wheel and it was only when I got >close to home that my car started blowing warm air into the interior. > >It was an agonizing job for me to carry all the groceries into the house, >get the car back in the garage and plow my feet through the snow to get to >my side door. Note: my driveway has already been plowed out four times >during the past week. > >It wasn't until a number of hours later that my chilled bones finally >warmed up. In the meantime the three most predominant sounds I continued >to hear were (1) my almost nonstop furnace running, (2) the snowplows >going by and (3) the wind howling through the bare branches. > >Although I'd like to apologize for this dismal message, I won't. Hey, if >I have to go through the misery of winter around here, I'm gonna spread >the gloom around among all of you equally. :-) >vee -- Ruth Barton [email protected] Dummerston, VT

Vee, LOL!!! I laughed so hard thinking of you lying on the beach and someone calling 911!! Our warm weather friends don't know how much we love to suffer in our cold cold winter..... Jo in Michigan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 11:33 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Make the weather go away > Dear Charles, > > I know that a number of my senior citizen friends around here are snowbirds > and fly south to Florida to wait out the winter down there. But at no time > have I ever been tempted to join them. > > In the first place if I would ever picture myself lying face down on the > sand on a sunny beach, I would only hope that someone would call "911!" > > Regarding my buying and driving an RV all that distance down south, by the > time I got there, what with my aching arthritis, Spring would already be > arriving up here! Even without my arthritis, I don't have a clue what I > would have in common with the other senior citizen snowbirds down there. I > don't knit, I don't crochet, I don't have children or grandchildren and I > don't do the coffee klatch thing. > > The only thing I would find important in my life down in the south would be > my computer and my ability to keep in touch with our list and my email > friends. Therefore, I'll continue to hang on up here in the north. > > But hey, Charles, thanks for your warm message. Up hear we need all the > warmth that we can get! > vee > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "matheson" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 10:58 PM > Subject: RE: [FOLKS] Make the weather go away > > > > Vee, I wish I could help you however, I live to far away in Texas. We > have > > had a few days in the mid 20's but most of the time it is about 60. > > > > I remember my childhood in Chicago and there is no way I would return > there > > to live. My older brother, Jim lives there and calls me on the weekend so > > that we can keep in touch. He tells me what the weather is like and I am > > glad I live in Texas. > > > > Maybe you should purchase an RV and become what we call "Snowbirds". They > > come down to the valley in Texas and to Florida to spend the winters then > > return up north during the summer. > > > > There have been time here in central Texas that we have had snow for weeks > > along with ice and the people here do not know how to drive under such > > conditions. Makes a mess of everthing. > > > > Charles > > > > > > > > >

Dear Charles, I know that a number of my senior citizen friends around here are snowbirds and fly south to Florida to wait out the winter down there. But at no time have I ever been tempted to join them. In the first place if I would ever picture myself lying face down on the sand on a sunny beach, I would only hope that someone would call "911!" Regarding my buying and driving an RV all that distance down south, by the time I got there, what with my aching arthritis, Spring would already be arriving up here! Even without my arthritis, I don't have a clue what I would have in common with the other senior citizen snowbirds down there. I don't knit, I don't crochet, I don't have children or grandchildren and I don't do the coffee klatch thing. The only thing I would find important in my life down in the south would be my computer and my ability to keep in touch with our list and my email friends. Therefore, I'll continue to hang on up here in the north. But hey, Charles, thanks for your warm message. Up hear we need all the warmth that we can get! vee ----- Original Message ----- From: "matheson" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 10:58 PM Subject: RE: [FOLKS] Make the weather go away > Vee, I wish I could help you however, I live to far away in Texas. We have > had a few days in the mid 20's but most of the time it is about 60. > > I remember my childhood in Chicago and there is no way I would return there > to live. My older brother, Jim lives there and calls me on the weekend so > that we can keep in touch. He tells me what the weather is like and I am > glad I live in Texas. > > Maybe you should purchase an RV and become what we call "Snowbirds". They > come down to the valley in Texas and to Florida to spend the winters then > return up north during the summer. > > There have been time here in central Texas that we have had snow for weeks > along with ice and the people here do not know how to drive under such > conditions. Makes a mess of everthing. > > Charles > > >

Hey Penny, You really know the feeling don't you girl! Note: at my age of 72 I can call anyone younger than I "girl!" Oh my goodness you live north of Syracuse? I live north of Buffalo and you know what a reputation Buffalo has regarding snow and nasty weather stuff. But what I seem to recall is that Syracuse has more snow dumped on the city on an anual basis than Buffalo ever did (Blizzard of '77 possibly excluded). Ah yes, as we've learned over the years, this too shall pass once again and there will be apple blossoms blooming in the spring. All we need to do is think past a probable mid-March blizzard and the rest of it is a piece of cake. Think along these lines according to a song of yesterday: It's spring again The birds on the wing again Start to sing again The old melody . . . However, the birds right now would have to sing very loudly to drown out the droan of my furnace going on and on! vee ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 10:47 PM Subject: [FOLKS] (no subject) > Vee, > I'm with you on this darn cold. I live north of Syracuse. Yesterday morning > abt 5:50am I woke to go to the little girls room,.I looked over at my clock > nothing, the light wasn't there, glanced out into the hall no night light either, > My worst fear, no power. Grapped my flashlight that I keep by my bed. Out I > go to check out the problem, which I already know, no power and very cold. Went > into my computer room looked at the temp. 22 below. Woke my husband who was > in a daze from the sudden yell from me. Please get the generator going, I need > coffee and heat. It seems that the grid our power lines come from is jinxed. I > can't remember anytime in my 63 yrs the temp being this cold. We lived in > Lake Placid area for 10yrs it was cold but nothing like this. Oh well, when > spring comes and all the flowers, trees start to bud we'll all forget this until > next time. > > Keep warm all > Penny > >

Vee - Forget the gloves - get some mittens! Our poor fingers can't handle this cold when they are separated from each other! They need to be close to each other for warmth (think 'three dog night"). :-) And I've offered this weather to several people in other parts of the country.. they wont take it! Kathy

Vee, I'm with you on this darn cold. I live north of Syracuse. Yesterday morning abt 5:50am I woke to go to the little girls room,.I looked over at my clock nothing, the light wasn't there, glanced out into the hall no night light either, My worst fear, no power. Grapped my flashlight that I keep by my bed. Out I go to check out the problem, which I already know, no power and very cold. Went into my computer room looked at the temp. 22 below. Woke my husband who was in a daze from the sudden yell from me. Please get the generator going, I need coffee and heat. It seems that the grid our power lines come from is jinxed. I can't remember anytime in my 63 yrs the temp being this cold. We lived in Lake Placid area for 10yrs it was cold but nothing like this. Oh well, when spring comes and all the flowers, trees start to bud we'll all forget this until next time. Keep warm all Penny

Dear Folks, I've lived Western New York for many, many years and every one of those years had six seasons--Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Winter and WINTER!!! I know that at my age I tend to forget some of the small details of the past but I SWEAR this winter is one of the most bitterly cold ones we've ever had. If any one of you can refresh my memory of a winter that was colder than this one, let me know the details. I'd appreciate it. (OK, I do admit that in February 1979 the temperature dipped down to the unheard of minus 21 degrees!) For the past number of days now, (or has it been weeks??) the temperature has been hovering between a high of zero degrees to ten degrees above with an overnight low in the minus zero range. Right now it's below zero and dropping. Heaven only knows what the wind chill factor is right now. Yesterday I steeled myself to get in my car, hoped I could make it out of my driveway and at the last minute I chickened out. Let's face it, never do today what you can put off until tomorrow. However, today I KNEW that if I didn't return my books to the library before they became overdue and stop at B-Kwik for milk and a few other things, I knew that if I didn't, I would REALLY hate myself tomorrow and I also knew that without milk, my Cheerios for breakfast would be much too crispy than I care for. So this afternoon I bundled myself up to the nth degree (picture Nanuk of the North), pushed myself out of the door (with heart pounding), got in my car praying that my battery hadn't pooped out, it started up nicely and I put the pedal to the metal and barreled out the garage in order to plow through the drift right in front of the garage door. I even managed to plow through the snow at the end of the driveway where the snow plow tends to dump it and I eventually was on my merry way into the village of Youngstown, freezing all the way on the short drive. I managed to return my library books, checked out a couple other neat scary books, get back into the car and drive the short distance to B-Kwik. When I got out of the car there and walked just the few feet into the store, the wind had picked up considerably and all of a sudden I knew that it wasn't just the discomfort of low temperatures but that due to the wind it was lethal weather. Not only was there the danger of severe frostbite within minutes outside but if I would happen to trip and fall down, they wouldn't have found me until spring. I got the chance to warm up in B-Kwik and then managed to load all of my groceries in my car. In spite of wearing gloves, my fingers were freezing to death by the time I got behind the wheel and it was only when I got close to home that my car started blowing warm air into the interior. It was an agonizing job for me to carry all the groceries into the house, get the car back in the garage and plow my feet through the snow to get to my side door. Note: my driveway has already been plowed out four times during the past week. It wasn't until a number of hours later that my chilled bones finally warmed up. In the meantime the three most predominant sounds I continued to hear were (1) my almost nonstop furnace running, (2) the snowplows going by and (3) the wind howling through the bare branches. Although I'd like to apologize for this dismal message, I won't. Hey, if I have to go through the misery of winter around here, I'm gonna spread the gloom around among all of you equally. :-) vee

Vee, I wish I could help you however, I live to far away in Texas. We have had a few days in the mid 20's but most of the time it is about 60. I remember my childhood in Chicago and there is no way I would return there to live. My older brother, Jim lives there and calls me on the weekend so that we can keep in touch. He tells me what the weather is like and I am glad I live in Texas. Maybe you should purchase an RV and become what we call "Snowbirds". They come down to the valley in Texas and to Florida to spend the winters then return up north during the summer. There have been time here in central Texas that we have had snow for weeks along with ice and the people here do not know how to drive under such conditions. Makes a mess of everthing. Charles

Dear Folks, Have any of you ever danced a minuet? Well I was taught how to dance to one and very properly, mind you. To jog your memory of what a minuet was, just picture the mid 1700s in this new country in Colonial Philadelphia or Virginia. Picture George Washington and all of the most elite society at the time gathered together in a grand ballroom, both men and women wearing powdered wigs. And then the minuet began. It was such a stately dance and such a delicate one. For a detailed discription check out the URL http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3minuet.htm. Just to keep you straight, I want to strongly emphasize that I am not THAT old! No I was taught the minuet in grammar school when I was in the fourth or fifth grade in the early 1940s in Niagara Falls. It was during WWII (not that the war had anything to do with it) but apparently once a day or week or so the music teacher would lead us kids outside our normal classroom at Ashland Avenue School and take us into an empty one without any desks in it. There she taught all of us gangly nine- or ten-year-old girls and boys the stately dance of the minuet. She lined the boys up on one side and the girls on the other. When the classical music started playing on the phonograph the boys and girls gracefully approached other (well at least as gracefully as they could manage). The boys bowed from the waist and the girls curtsied toward their partners. Then we all went through the elaborate steps of the minuet. In fact, they weren't all that elaborate but more of getting into the feeling of dancing the minuet to such beautiful and graceful music from a long, long time ago. And do you know what? I can't recall a single one of us giggling over it--not even the boys! Now why do I have the feeling that the kids nowadays aren't taught the minuet in music class??? vee

Suzanne said: What a > growing experience that was for me---as I look back > I can well imagine what it must have been like with your being a 17 year old girl out in the working world 15 miles from home and then having to figure out how to get back home in the middle of a blizzard. I guess it's because of such decisions that we have to make on our own at a tender age without Mom or Dad to help us out that shape our lives. P.S. Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed my story of the Blizzard of '77 for the second time around. I knew that I was repeating myself but we've had a number of new subscribers to our list since I first posted it and I posted it again in the event that some of you/them might not know what can happen in winter in the Niagara County area. I've alway maintained that surviving winter around here builds character! vee

Vee, I enjoyed the Blizzard story--even the second time around I remember a similar type of Survival Experience as a 17 year old, working 15 miles from my home, using bus service to get back and forth and the storm came when I was at my job. To get home, it took planning, waiting, and taking a train in a different direction, to get into the Chicago area. I knew if I could make it there, there would be buses running and I could approach my home from the east rather than the west. It was a long night to get home. I did phone my mother to tell her of my plans. NO she did not drive-infact the only car we had my Dad had it parked near where he worked. I was on my own. What a growing experience that was for me---as I look back Susanne

Dear Folks, After the Blizzard of '77 was over in one day, the entire area of Western New York dug in to dig out. Snow plows plowed streets and highways around the clock. Neighbors helped neighbors unearth cars buried in snowdrifts. I called my neighbor across the street to make certain that she had the necessary food to feed her young children. And I barely knew her. She was very grateful. I believe it was a full week before any non-essential vehicles were permitted on the roads and streets but eventually things got back to as normal as they could be under the circumstances at the time. When I showed up in my Navy office in Buffalo that first day back, that's when I heard what those sailors (men and women) had to contend with who chose not to try to make their way home that afternoon. No they were not destitute and frankly fared better than the rest of us who headed out into the storm. Nonetheless, they raided all of our desk drawers for any food they could find (mostly candy) but at least they managed to stay warm. Where they managed to sleep that night, I don't recall. Probably on top of their desks. But I guess that the one thing that continues to stick in my mind about the aftermath is the one report that our Navy office received from our outlying Recruiting Office in Watertown, NY. Actually it was a "non-accident" report that concerned one of our Navy vehicles there. The Army base located in Watertown is Fort Drum and the base turned out in full force to dig everyone out in that area that had been hit just as hard as we had much further toward the east. The Army there used every piece of heavy duty equipment that they had to get the job done. And in doing the best that they could, one of their heavy half tracks just happened to run over one of our Navy cars buried in a huge snow drift! Did our Navy car suffer any damage? Nah! That's why it was a non-accident report! vee

The Blizzard of '77 March 4, 2001 This evening a lot of people have the jitters over the current weather forecast for a whole lot of snow for the east coast. I understand that it's being forecasted as the Storm of the Century. Well, here in Niagara County, we're hoping it will just slide by us to the south and then make its way up to the New England states and not dump a lot of that fluffy white stuff on us. But frankly, I get the jitters when I think about what if we get dumped on too. You see, I experienced the Blizzard of '77 and I still remember what we went through. It started on an ordinary Friday workday in Buffalo, January 28, 1977, around noon. I noticed that downtown Buffalo was having a bit of a weather problem. It had been snowing normally enough before I went to lunch but by the time I made my way back over to the Federal Office Building on West Huron Street, the wind was blowing so hard that I had to grab onto parking meters to keep me from being blown into the street. I could see that the combination of the high wind and more snow coming down could cause a bit of a problem in driving back to Town of Lewiston, where I lived at the time-about 30 miles away. I was on active duty in the Navy at the Navy Recruiting District headquarters in Buffalo and as more of the people returned to the office from lunch and witnessed what I had witnessed, it became obvious that if we didn't leave the office right then and there, a number of us just wouldn't be able to make it home through the snow. Our commanding officer agreed and we were given permission to "secure" early. I was in a car pool with two male chief petty officers and Chief "P" was the driver. By the time we had left the office, we had heard that the Thruway was already closed because of the weather and Chief "P" chose the safest route to get back to the Niagara Falls area-Niagara Falls Boulevard. By 1:00 all of Buffalo was in a panic. Everyone was trying to get home and the storm kept getting worse and worse. The high winds were whipping up the snow already on the ground and you couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you. Many times there were total whiteouts where you couldn't see anything at all except blowing snow. I sat in the back of the car rigid with fear while the two chiefs in the front seat made jokes and laughed, no doubt to bolster my spirits. But I could see what a navigation problem there was as we inched up Niagara Falls Blvd. You didn't know if the car ahead of you was stopped or not and in many cases they were stalled and you had to drive around them without being able to see if there were any cars coming in your direction. But Chief "P" just drove slowly on without incident. We drove and drove in the blowing snow for hours, inching our way back to Niagara Falls. And then we had to come to a dead stop. We were told that there was a huge snowdrift across the road that was too high for even a snowplow to break through it. We had gotten as far as the Bell Aerospace plant on the outskirts of Niagara Falls and by that time it was 6:00 in the evening and we had left Buffalo around noon. It normally would have taken about a half an hour to drive the distance. We weren't the only ones who had been stopped dead in their tracks and we all scrambled around trying to find an alternate route but there wasn't one. All roads were drifted over. We assessed the situation and realized two things right off. First, we needed to call home to let our families know where we were and then we needed to get something to eat. Papa Leo's Pizzeria was nearby so we went there. As soon as the person in front of us got off the pay phone one of us tried to dial home. But by that time, the minute you picked up the receiver you got a busy signal. The phone lines were jammed with calls. We finally agreed that one of us would continue to try to put a call through and to have them call our other two families to tell them we were OK. We eventually managed to make the one call. The pizzeria was packed with stranded people and so what did Papa Leo do? He served pizza to everyone, free of charge! I'll never forget his generosity. The three of us knew that we were stranded for the night so we decided to make the best of it. Across the road nearby was the White House bar, I think it was called, and so we went over there to have a couple of drinks and to spend the evening. It was especially important that they have a TV set because none of us wanted to miss the next episode of "Roots." As the three of us sat up at the bar, I could see out of the front window facing the road and I remember being startled to see someone on skis slowly making his way down the middle of what is normally a very busy road. The wind and snow was whipping around him. But there came a time when we knew that the bartender would close up and so Chief "P" made one more attempt to get us home and we started down another road. We soon found it was also totally drifted over and we realized that we needed a place to stay for the night. Our only hope was a motel back up the road and so we made our way there. The manager came out to the office and told us that he was filled up. But when he realized that our only other choice was for us to sleep in the car in the bitter cold, he told us that he had one vacant room but that it was in process of being remodeled and didn't have any heat in it whatsoever. We gladly took it. (No charge!) Now here's something I didn't mention. All three of us were in our Navy uniforms and because the motel manager might have thought it a bit kinky for two male sailors and one female sailor to rent a single motel room, I just stayed in the car out of sight. But when the three of us went into the room and realized that there was only one double bed, we knew that it would be a VERY crowded bed. Did we take any of our clothes off? NO WAY!! It was freezing in there and all that we took off were our shoes and loosened our ties. But with the three of us in one bed we were able to keep warm enough even though none of us slept very soundly that night. When we got up in the morning, we realized just how cold the room had been. All the snow that we had tracked in on our shoes the night before was still on the floor. Nonetheless, we had gotten some rest and when we looked outside, the sun was shining. The blizzard was over. But then we knew we would have to dig the car out where it was buried under the snow. With the help of a snow shovel that someone had conveniently left stuck in a drift nearby, we got ourselves back on the road. We drove back to the area of Bell Aerospace where we had been stopped originally and went into a simple little restaurant across the road called My Place, I think that was its name. When we walked in, I could see that it was in shambles with tables that hadn't been cleared off. It was obvious that they had been serving customers all night long and we were lucky that they had any food left whatsoever. After I ate my bowl of soggy hot oatmeal, I went back to the kitchen to see if I could be of any help. I found a tired-looking man washing dishes and when I questioned him, I found that he was just a customer like I was who offered to help them out. With that, I busied myself clearing off the tables and bringing the dishes back to the dishwasher. In the meantime the two chiefs tried to find us a way home. By this time it was Saturday, the wind had died down, it had stopped snowing and one of the roads had been opened with a snowplow that allowed us to start home again. Our first destination was to get Chief "K" to his home in Town of Niagara where he lived in military housing. However, we got only as far as the fire hall on Saunders Settlement Road in Town of Lewiston when we were stopped again in our tracks. A snowdrift up ahead had blocked the road and the plows couldn't budge it. We went into the fire hall that was filled with people who had taken refuge there the night before. Everyone looked weary but what was amazing was that the volunteer firemen had already set up a soup kitchen affair and the women of the company were pleasantly serving everybody tasty home cooked food. Free of charge, of course. Chief "P" and I left Chief "K" there at his insistence. He felt he could make his way back home from there, by hook or by crook. Note: He eventually did--by snowmobile. Chief "P" and I then traced our steps back to Military Road that had been plowed out sufficiently. We eventually reached his sister-in-law's house off of Military Road and she took us in. This was Saturday and her husband hadn't made it back home from work from the day before. Later that day he almost stumbled through the door. He was so relieved to be home again. He told all of us what he had gone through to make it home but there was one thing that he said that I felt he exaggerated. He said that as he was making his way down a street on foot, he realized that what he was walking over wasn't just a snowdrift-he was walking over a car that was buried under the snowdrift. I knew that he was exaggerating because you don't just walk up a pile of snow in the road and back down the other side without realizing that there's an entire car underneath! Chief "P" and I had to stay put at their home all day and they put us up for the night. But what sticks in my mind that day is the radio that had been turned on. She had it set for the local radio station WHLD and we heard very little music if any all day long. It was one continual local news broadcast covering everything from the few roads that were open, to what grocery stores still had food, to broadcasts of individuals who needed help. There were people who were out of prescription medication and needed someone to pick up medicine; there were people who were stranded away from home whose pets needed looking after; there were stranded people who couldn't contact their families and there were people in need of medical attention and babies about to be born. And the cries of help went out to those people who had snowmobiles, the only form of transportation with the exception of skis or snowshoes. As I listened to the broadcast I became more and more aware of how local people had already banded together and were helping other people and I was deeply touched. We suddenly became one tight-knit community. By Sunday morning we learned that some key roads had cleared sufficiently enough for Chief "P" to drop me off at my house in Town of Lewiston and then to continue on to his home in Ransomville. He had to drop me off at the end of my street because the road was totally drifted over but I knew I could trudge the distance to my house. Step by step I walked through the deep drifts getting closer to home. But at one point I looked down from where I was at the top of a huge snowdrift and I saw something sticking up out of the top of the drift. It was a car antenna-I was walking over a car that was totally buried under the snow! When I arrived safely back in my own home and found that everything was safe and sound, I almost fell to pieces. I was HOME!! It had been TWO days since we had left the Federal Office Building in Buffalo to make the 30-mile trip home. Two days of fear, frustration, fear, cold, discomfort and a feeling of helplessness. Several days later the AAA tow truck rescued my car from where I had parked it in the K-Mart parking lot-snow had blown up under the car and totally buried the engine. During my conversation with the tow truck driver, I realized just how serious the blizzard had been. He had been given instructions to check the interior of all cars he was to pick up to see if there was anyone in them. At least eight people froze to death in their stalled cars during the blizzard! It made me remember the number of stalled cars that we had to make our way carefully around on our way home. But I also remember something else about that awful drive home. I remember noticing that more and more snow was being blown over the road and causing dangerous deep drifts that we could have gotten stuck in. But the people who lived in the houses along the road tried to do everything they could to help mark the drifts. The most lasting memory I have of that time is seeing the hockey sticks they stuck into the snowdrifts to warn the motorists who were trying to get home. And we were total strangers to them. That's what I remember most about the Blizzard of '77. In my memory it resulted in the greatest example of neighbors helping neighbors, and strangers helping strangers. Everyone was at his best. To paraphrase Charles Dickens in his A Tale of Two Cities; "It was the worst of times; it was the best of times."

Dear Folks, Those of you who live north of the Mason and Dixon line (including me) may be noticing that your outside thermometers are hovering a little above or a little below the zero degree level, and I guess if you've experienced it before, well you're experiencing it again! Is that right? Hey, it's January! What did your expect? A thaw??? Well, since it's January and winter is now blasting us in the face, I thought I might "cheer" you up with the story of the Blizzard of 1977 around here! I'll follow this message with the story I wrote three years ago about my personal experience regarding the Blizzard of '77. It's a bit of a long story but back then it was an even longer story. vee

I know what you mean, Vee. I live on 35 acres with one horse, 16 head of cattle, my brother-in-law and my wife. I go shopping at Wal Mart and my grocery store is HEB (H. E. Butt). When I travel into Austin, Texas, I am always parking in a lot somewhere and the only time I walk on any type of sidewalk is when I going from the parking lot of my American Legion Post to the building. Charles

Dear Folks, My mind had drifted off this evening and I found myself thinking about sidewalks and walking on them. Yes I know I tend to think of the darnedest things! I was born and raised as a city girl and never a day went by but what I either walked on sidewalks or roller-skated on sidewalks or played a game such as hop scotch on sidewalks. But now that I've been living in the country for over 25 years, all of a sudden I feel deprived of sidewalks. To make me feel better I had to remind myself about the regular trips I take into the village of Youngstown where they actually have sidewalks. But that didn't work at all. The only places I go there is the library/museum where I park in the parking lot, the little B-Kwik grocery store and Rite-Aid drugstore where I park in the parking lot. And then there's the post office parking lot and the bank parking lot and the Town Hall parking lot. Frankly, the only time I ever get a chance to walk on an honest-to-goodness sidewalk in the village is about once a year when someone breezes into town and takes me out to lunch on Main Street. Now how is that for deprivation??? :-) vee

Kim Brown the Lockport Union Sun & Journal about him. Would someone be able to copy the article and obituary and send If there is no response it is on their site. A google search will find the address. Bob AZ