LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - APRIL 6, 2014
Snow On April 1 - No Fooling
by Lynne Belluscio
I w a s i n N o r r i s t o w n ,
Pennsylvania last weekend for
a museum conference. I had
checked the weather forecast to
see what the weather was going to
be like for the trip home on Sunday
and nothing was ominous. It rained
most of Saturday there, and a
friend of mine from Cooperstown
was saying that she was seeing
flood warnings for her part of
New York.
Sunday morning I pulled up
The
Batavian
and it was showing the
snow on Main Street in Batavia
on Saturday night. There wasn’t
anything alarming on the Weather
Channel, but I thought I’d send
a message to my daughter to
see what was happening Sunday
morning. “Foot of snow! The plow
just went by and pushed 4 foot of
snow into the end of the driveway.
Roads are terrible.” Oops. Looks
like the trip home was going to
be a challenge. But everything
was pretty good. Ran into some
fog in the mountains and freezing
rain south of Syracuse, but the
roads were pretty good. We got
a little west of Syracuse and saw
accumulation and just the other
side of Henrietta, it was obvious
that something pretty nasty had
taken place. Luckily by the time
I made it to the LeRoy exit, the
roads had cleared off and things
were fine – except the driveway
which was a little dicey, but
4-wheel drive is a wonderful thing.
I had received an e-mail from
Cheryll Fernaays early in the
day. She was the snow-shovel
volunteer for the week. There
was no way she was going to be
able to shovel the walks in time
for Monday, so I e-mailed trusty
Tom Frew. “Any chance you can
drive your tractor down and clear
the walks?” A few hours later, his
wife, Anne emailed to say, Tom
had cleared the snow and we were
in business for Monday.
The Historical Society has
relied on volunteers to keep the
walkways clear for many years.
It’s always the luck of the draw
and Tom has not been lucky this
year. But our thanks go out to our
volunteers. And Tom gets the Gold
Shovel Award!
I should add that the old snow
shovel gave out this year, in
January. And the one that was on
the front porch of LeRoy House
was stolen. By the time we went to
Crockers to get
a replacement,
they were out of
snow shovels.
Come to think of
it, they were out
of salt too.
B y c o i n -
cidence, I was
looking through
a s c r a p b o o k
yesterday and
d i s cove r ed a
p h o t o g r a p h
taken in Stafford
o n Ap r i l 1 ,
1940. The old
adage, the good
old days doesn’t
apply. I looked
up the Easter storm of 1940
in the
LeRoy Gazette
. It seems
like the storm started on Good
Friday, March 22.
The
Gazette
noted that it
was colder on March 24 -
Easter Sunday than it was
on Christmas. There were 30
mph winds and the north/south
roads filled with snow. The
drifts were 15 feet high in some
places. Some brave souls made
it through the snow for Easter
Sunday. The snow continued
through Monday. Lake Street
was still closed. Dozens of
people were stranded. All buses
were canceled. The Village
garbage truck got stuck.
A week later, the snow had
started to melt. Houses on East
Avenue were flooded, and the fire
Spring Antiques
& Treasures Sale
Saturday, April 12, 2014
10am - 4pm
at the Le Roy Country Club
7759 E Main Rd, Le Roy, NY 14482
Venders will offer a variety of
Antiques, Furniture, Florals, Jewelry,
Decorative & Holiday Items,Vintage Goods to Compliment Your Home & Garden
$3.00 Admission will benefit the Le Roy Historical Society & Jell-O Museum
Come to Shop...Stay for a Wonderful Lunch...
For Dealer Info, Please Call Jeanne at (585) 768-6310
Snow in Stafford April 1, 1940.
LeRoy’s flamingoes on April 1, 2014.
trucks helped pump 50 basements.
A week later, it was reported that
spring had arrived. The Village
had to order the kids on roller
skates to stay off the roads.
