Looking back at snowfalls of the past

When looking out at the latest snowfall that we received, I am reminded of March of ’65 before I went into the Navy. I was working at the Conger Creamery at the time and had just finished my can route. After that I hauled a load of skim milk into Freeborn Foods. As I left the creamery, it started to sleet. I took the “Old Wilson Highway” which runs from Conger to Hwy. 69. It was gravel back then, but today it is blacktop. The road was muddy and icy, so as I got to the curve on the north end of Upper Twin Lake my front tires were in the grooves that were made in the mud. Meanwhile the back of the truck was inches from the guard rail. I decided that I didn’t want to ride with the truck if it went off the road and into the bottom of that steep drop. With that being said, I opened the door and stood on the edge of the floor with my right foot on the gas and one hand on the steering wheel. I managed to navigate the curve and keep on going. My survival instincts told me to turn on a different road to avoid the blacktop. Unfortunately, the gravel on South Lincoln was also glare ice, and as I navigated the icy hill down and up the other side, there in front of me was a van sitting crossways at the top of the hill. I knew that hitting the brakes would send me off the road, so I pushed in the clutch and let the truck roll back and fort between the hills until it came to rest at the bottom. I walked to a neighboring house and called Matson Truck lines to bring their crane over and winch me up the hill.

 

By the time I got to Freeborn Foods, the sleet had turned to snow, and it was coming down hard. The snow wasn’t letting up, so I left for Conger and barely made it back. The snow was coming down harder now, so my two co-workers and I spent the night sleeping on top of boxes in the creamery.

 

The next day the snow finally let up, so we went out to see which farms we could reach. The snow south of Conger was so deep on some of the side roads that only the top of the power poles were sticking out of the snow. Some farmers would bring the milk to the end of their driveway by sled. Some weren’t so lucky and had to pour their milk down the drain because they only had so much room in the coolers.

 

That winter, I shoveled more snow than I have the rest of my life. There is much more to the story, but that is a story for another time.

 

Please take the time to remember our troops that are serving now and those that have served before them. They are the reason that we have all of the Freedoms that we enjoy today.