The Blizzard of 1978

[tjc transport]

10 hours ago, 1958 F.W.D. said:

 I hate being a firefighter in snow, ice and cold. 

in winter 76/77 we had a BAD fire in a welfare apartment complex. lost 3 buildings with 24 units in each. 

i did not know i had pinholes in my boots, and gloves. well, my boots and gloves filled up with water. we were so damn cold i never knew..... until i went to take them off and the outside next to the gloves and boots was frozen. 

i have had issues with my hands and feet due to the frostbite from that "adventure" ever since. 

[mowerman]

god love him....thats the way older generation operates.....when theres work to be done...they do it...my pop was pretty much the same way....raised during the depression....they were generally a little differant,than what you see today.........bob

[mowerman]

i wasnt going to put a negative spin on this ....but cant help but post....these days able bodied grown men,seem to prefer sitting in starbucks,,playing with thier phones..lol.bob

[other dog]

I...just don't remember anything about the blizzard of 78. I was around...about 22 years old...left a welding job in Dec. of 1978, started driving a truck in Jan. 1979, been driving ever since...nope, don't remember the blizzard, or where I was. I do believe there was a blizzard though, I just don't remember it. 😁

[hicrop10]

1958 F.W.D.,I remember both those tow trucks and the gulf station that had them.My dad and Chuck were friends.It still there just ran by his boys.

[mattb73lt]

I was 13 at the time. My Dad was in charge of maintenance for the local school system. He always brought the school plow truck home during storms so he could get an early start to try to get the schools open on time in the mornings. The night of the storm, he gathered us kids and a few of our neighbor friends, piled us in the truck and went to the middle school. That was where the town pool was. We spent the evening swimming, diving and snorkeling in the pool while the snow went by the big windows sideways.

Early the next morning when the snow stopped, he gathered us up and all the neighborhood kids he could find and wanted to make some money. Took us over to the schools and issued us a shovel. There were about 12 of us kids (all about 12-16 years old) and a bunch of regular custodial workers, a few plow trucks and a ford tractor with a bucket on it. We went from building to building, through the entire school system, and cleared all the exits, walkways and access points. Lunchtime, they opened one of the cafeterias and the workers cooked us lunch. We had a ball, they payed us minimum wage, which I think was around $2-$3 an hour, then. That was a lot of money for a 13 year old.

In later years, my Dad was in charge of school bus maintenance. When it snowed at night, he was up early to start putting chains on the fleet of buses to try and get them on the road to minimize opening delays. He would take my brother and I with him to help out, at 3-4 AM!! We'd wear yard clothes and take our school clothes and books with us. We'd use wooden blocks on the inside duals, to drive the bus up on to throw the chains on the rear tires, lock them on and put the tensioners on. We'd also chop up short pieces bailing wire to hang on the inside mirror bracket for the driver, so he could wire down a broken link so it wouldn't beat the body up. When we were done, we'd get cleaned up, change and he would drop us off at school or we'd catch one of the buses, after we ate breakfast.

I can't believe we did that back then, now that I think about it. But it was like a normal thing, we were helping out when something needed to get done. I also don't think you'd be able to get todays kids do that, even if they wanted to.

Edited February 2, 2021 by mattb73lt

[DavCut]

On 1/29/2021 at 6:22 PM, 66dc75 said:

We lived north side of Brockton,  the plow truck was down next to AA Will's pit in Canton, he made it as far as as Will's yard in Stoughton and had to turn back. He did end up disappearing for a few days on snow removal though. 

Where did you live in Stoughton?

We lived off Morton Street, not too far off 138. I remember driving by Will and A.A Will when we would head north to see my grandparents. Seems as if there was a Case dealer along there closer up to 128 too...

Great memories!

Dave

[66dc75]

22 hours ago, DavCut said:

We lived off Morton Street, not too far off 138. I remember driving by Will and A.A Will when we would head north to see my grandparents. Seems as if there was a Case dealer along there closer up to 128 too...

Great memories!

Dave

Yup Case dealer on the right headed north. Fence company in that spot now.

That was the road my grandpa's house too Roslindale 

[mrgumby]

Cassidy and lee the case dealer you speak of ?

[66dc75]

19 hours ago, mrgumby said:

Cassidy and lee the case dealer you speak of ?

Yup

[mowerman]

On 2/1/2021 at 4:52 PM, mattb73lt said:

I was 13 at the time. My Dad was in charge of maintenance for the local school system. He always brought the school plow truck home during storms so he could get an early start to try to get the schools open on time in the mornings. The night of the storm, he gathered us kids and a few of our neighbor friends, piled us in the truck and went to the middle school. That was where the town pool was. We spent the evening swimming, diving and snorkeling in the pool while the snow went by the big windows sideways.

Early the next morning when the snow stopped, he gathered us up and all the neighborhood kids he could find and wanted to make some money. Took us over to the schools and issued us a shovel. There were about 12 of us kids (all about 12-16 years old) and a bunch of regular custodial workers, a few plow trucks and a ford tractor with a bucket on it. We went from building to building, through the entire school system, and cleared all the exits, walkways and access points. Lunchtime, they opened one of the cafeterias and the workers cooked us lunch. We had a ball, they payed us minimum wage, which I think was around $2-$3 an hour, then. That was a lot of money for a 13 year old.

In later years, my Dad was in charge of school bus maintenance. When it snowed at night, he was up early to start putting chains on the fleet of buses to try and get them on the road to minimize opening delays. He would take my brother and I with him to help out, at 3-4 AM!! We'd wear yard clothes and take our school clothes and books with us. We'd use wooden blocks on the inside duals, to drive the bus up on to throw the chains on the rear tires, lock them on and put the tensioners on. We'd also chop up short pieces bailing wire to hang on the inside mirror bracket for the driver, so he could wire down a broken link so it wouldn't beat the body up. When we were done, we'd get cleaned up, change and he would drop us off at school or we'd catch one of the buses, after we ate breakfast.

I can't believe we did that back then, now that I think about it. But it was like a normal thing, we were helping out when something needed to get done. I also don't think you'd be able to get todays kids do that, even if they wanted to.

god love ya,,,,,thats real cool story.and ten-4...on the big money at 13.lol...thanks for sharing.....bob

[1958 F.W.D.]

On 2/1/2021 at 6:53 PM, hicrop10 said:

1958 F.W.D.,I remember both those tow trucks and the gulf station that had them.My dad and Chuck were friends.It still there just ran by his boys.

Donald and Lee. They both came to my Mom's funeral last year. It was good to see them despite the circumstances. Later on that year I was having issues getting my Ram aligned properly and I heard that Donald was really good with Ram alignments so I took it to him. He had me in and out in an hour and it has been perfect ever since. 

[Rob]

1 hour ago, 1958 F.W.D. said:

Donald and Lee. They both came to my Mom's funeral last year. It was good to see them despite the circumstances. Later on that year I was having issues getting my Ram aligned properly and I heard that Donald was really good with Ram alignments so I took it to him. He had me in and out in an hour and it has been perfect ever since. 

They can be difficult for someone that only knows what the book states or how to watch for "green lights" nowadays on the alignment rack. For someone that actually understands what the angles and settings do, why they are there, and what to look for when the spec can't be met, it's quite easy.

So many cannot, or do not look back to the basics when they have troubles to find a solution.