Fund Raising Trip (2)

The Blizzard of 66

We did not leave Jamestown on schedule.  It began snowing on the day before were planning to leave, and that turned into what came to be called, “The Blizzard of 66.”  According to weather reports we heard at the time, Jamestown received 48 inches of snow.  Buffalo gets all the publicity for large snow amounts, but Jamestown sometimes gets even more.    

We weren’t in the habit of canceling church services.   We not only had the evening service, we went to some friends’ house for dinner after the service.  When we got out of the car, Ann carried Jim in her arms and waded snow up to her waist.  Once we got in the house, she said, “I’m not leaving here until the weather clears.”   After we had dinner, I realized I needed to go home.  For one thing Ann didn’t have enough diapers for Jim to make it through the next day.  She also needed formula and baby food.

I left out in a blinding snow.  At times I had to stop the car because I couldn’t see the road, and when I could I couldn’t tell where the pavement ended and the shoulder began.  Eventually, I made it to our street.  There were no ruts on the street.  Nobody was out driving, which was a wise thing.  I finally got to our driveway, and as I tried to enter the driveway, the car stopped.  I was bogged down in snow all the way up to the top of my headlights.   The car was sticking halfway out into the street.  I knew that no one would be coming along, so I waded the snow to the door, went inside and went to bed.

The next morning I was faced with the task of getting back to Ann, Elliott, and Jim.  The snow had lifted, but it was blowing, and I started trying to dig out.  It took me until noon to get the car out.  By the time I got diapers to Jim, he was wearing a dish towel.   Of course there was no way we could leave for Texas that day. 

Jim Sheerer had preached in Erie the night before.  The roads were closed, so he had to stay there.  It was early in the afternoon before he headed back to Jamestown.  He called us (no cell phones in those days) to let us know that on his way home, he but he been stopped by a massive snow drift in the middle of the highway, and his car had been disabled.  He ended up needing a new transmission.  Charles and I went to rescue him.  I think we could probably have written a pretty good script for The Three Stooges, if we  have merely described how these three Texas guys handled a New York blizzard.