Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Winters at Shepherds



Thank you to Owen Lackey for writing today's blog. Owen is trying his hardest to bring comfort to us all as we face another snow forecast this evening...


Old stories from before I arrived in 1985:
·         Snow so heavy and abundant, that maintenance put snow throwers on the Wood Center roof to remove some of it.
·         Snow accumulation so large that drifts extended to the building roof line in a continuous arc from the drifts in front of the Wood Center.
·         Blizzard conditions and snow so deep 
      that maintenance had to go get their employees 
      from their homes in order to change shifts.

When I arrived in 1985:
·         Only one snow blower, one plow, and an old Ford tractor with a scraper blade for equipment. Maintenance did all roads 
      and sidewalks: no contractors. Only one road existed from the front east entrance around 
      past the Lamb Cottage to the current laundry.
·         No Bolthouse, Cook, Findley, Miter, A & B, Maintenance, Greenhouse, Franke, or Kuhnle buildings or their sidewalks.
·         Residents were expected to help with sidewalk snow removal outside their 
      living areas.

Winter Events I’ve Experienced:
·         Numerous, long, night plowing shifts.
·         Walking behind a snow thrower in a white out, finding my way back to the maintenance building by touch.
·         Pulling staff cars out of the front yard by Lamb because they slid off the curve on the icy road.
·         Digging out house-mother’s cars so they could go home.
·         Pushing snow backwards on an open tractor seat in a blizzard with no lights.
·         Running a Shepherds van as a shuttle bus to get enough staff here to cover programming.
·         Water and ice flowing fast in the east ditch, almost level with the parking lot. 

·         Discovering a running spring in the open Findley basement excavation in December.

·         Burst pipes in the Findley Center wreaking 
      havoc on the computer room.
·         Holding a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood on the roof to block a strong wind, so a maintenance man could replace a fan motor on a roof-top furnace without freezing his fingers.
·         Opening garage doors in the fiercest winter conditions because some staff ladies couldn’t budge them.
·         Using a snow thrower and six residents to empty 18” of snow out of the roofless, open structure of the Findley second floor during construction.  Jumping out of the window opening into a 10’ snow mound to the great delight of the residents watching.
·         Putting chains on the utility tractor tires to battle ice on the road.

·         Breaking ice in the marsh behind 
      Lamb so that a drain pipe could flow, allowing the water to drain from the Wood kitchen basement.
·         Trying to keep plants alive in the first winter in the new greenhouse before the furnaces were installed.
·         Digging out the Miter construction site so the contractors could get into the building.
·         Knocking off avalanches of snow 
      from the Wood Center roof on top of unsuspecting co-workers.
·         Working in wet, freezing clothes while the first set of clothes is still in the dryer in the laundry room.
·         Pulling the tractor out of the front yard by truck and chain.
·         If you run out of gas with the snow thrower, you will always, always, always be at the furthest point on campus from the gas cans.
·         A flat tire in an ice storm; how does that happen?
·         Coming in earlier than the airport day staff so they could get vehicles out and on the road on time, never knowing if the residents would get to go home that day.
·         Standing in waist deep snow, pushing on a building window from the outside so it could be latched.
·         Water dripping down my neck from icicles.
·         Knocking down icicles on top of myself because others fear being impaled.
·         Falling off of a roof into deep snow and struggling to get out.

….yeah, this winter ain’t so bad.


1 comment:

  1. Love this!! Shepherds personnel are the absolute best! And Mr. Lackey deserves a golden crown for his dedication!! Many thanks from Connie Sue Baugh's (former resident) family!

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