The Great 1950 Thanksgiving Snowstorm...

Anybody that lived in Ohio or Pennsylvania in 1950 will remember this storm. They called it the great white blizzard, the Thanksgiving snowstorm, the white out. Whatever you called it, you would remember.

This picture was taken of my grandmother's house from inside my tiny upstairs bedroom. The drifts were as high as 10 feet and people were unable to open their doors or possibly go outside. People were unable to go to work, all businesses were shut down, too much snow on the road to drive, and you couldn't get out to shovel or clear the streets, and I was stuck in the house not only from the snow but I had chicken pox. I was not a very happy child that weekend.

My grandfather and father made a pathway using a shovel and two days of hard labor between grandmas home and ours. I lost the picture I had of that particular event but remember it well. The path was narrow but did allow us to go back and forth for a visit or check the winter fruit cellar for well stored food.

It was a time of coming together in a community that still endears my senses and continues to give me hope that our country and communities will come together in time of need. I remember we still had a coal furnace and we used the coal as sparingly as possible as the delivery trucks couldn't deliver due to the storm. Whatever one didn't have the other would pitch in and make sure that all was right with the neighborhood, your neighborhood was your family.

We lived on a hill and the roads were steep and narrow and made of bricks. Riding a sled as fast as possible and crashing into a bank of snow was the best. No helmets, no arm or shin guards, just earmuffs, mittens, leggings, boots, and a heavy wool coat. It was amazing we could move at all. But what fun. I never was able to ride my sled until the following weekend, but there was plenty of snow still. I was in kindergarten that year and we missed two weeks of school, and in those days you didn't have to make it up.

We had very little contact to the outside world other than our old radio sitting in a corner and giving us the latest updates. Nothing was instant and it really was heavenly. The news, other than what affected us was not missed.

If was a time of love, fellowship and caring for each other that is not seen today. Maybe someday that feeling of family and community will return, to make that happen we all have to introduce ourselves to our neighbor, give a helping hand and have a spirit of togetherness that abounds. We are here to help one another and make a difference.

When you make a batch of cookies, or have an abundant meal, share it with those you know and especially those you don't. Go introduce yourself to someone you don't know and receive the gift of giving to others.


Encourage one another daily, as long as it is Today...Hebrews 3:13 NIV