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Across the Fence:  Blizzard of 1978  |
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LisaH
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Lisa
Granger
IN
USA
39 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 04 2009 : 1:19:19 PM
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Were you in the midwest when the big blizzard hit in 1978? I'm usually in the minority with this wish, but I would love another winter like that. It truly was a winter wonderland. We haven't had a good winter like that for a very long time. I miss it.
Lisa
An Indiana Suburban Farmgirl |
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Annika
True Blue Farmgirl
5602 Posts
Annika
USA
5602 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2009 : 1:30:43 PM
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Here's to a good winter Lisa. I want a bit of holiday weather magic myself =)
Annika
Farmgirl & sister #13
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~Leonardo DaVinci
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CountryBorn
True Blue Farmgirl
1545 Posts
Mary Jane
New York
USA
1545 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2009 : 2:33:54 PM
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I don't know about the midwest, but we had a humdinger here in western NY in '78. It was unbelieveable ! We were dug out of our 1800 ft driveway long before any roads were open. The banks were so high on the sides of the roads you could not see over them, they were way above the car. Snowmobiles had full run of the roads for day. The drifts from the high banks were bad. The teachers and kids were stranded at the schools for days. My husband went and picker ours up on the snowmobile. It was quite a time. People were without electric and phones for many days. Ours was fine. Plus we heat with wood and have a gas stove anyway. But, I have to say a storm of that magnitude really isn't on my Christmas wish list. I like snow here and there but not that much at once!!! lol.
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2009 : 2:37:43 PM
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Yes, we were there. Grew up in Illinois and went home for Christmas. We helped my mom shovel her place out, and had such a good time! Took the country roads between Springfield and Rockford, and the farmland was so beautiful!
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2009 : 3:10:28 PM
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I was in the Midwest when we had the Blizzard of either 47-48 or 48-49, can't remember which. We lived in a small trailer house and were confined to the house for six or seven days. I remember the house was completely covered with snow as well as the car. Dad couldn't go to work and I didn't go to school. Mom would hang the baby diapers on the clothesline until they froze and would then bring them back inside to finish drying. She went through a lot in those trying times.
Betty in Pasco |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2009 : 4:04:52 PM
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At the tender age of 8 I most certainly remember that one!
Went to visit a friend behind us and waded through snow drifts up to my knees.
Had to go to school on a Saturday we missed so many school days!
Here in the South its different i have come to find out. We also get power outages and more ice storms and a little snow.
People scramble to the stores to buy up milk and bread. interesting. |
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N@n
True Blue Farmgirl
223 Posts
Hackett
Arkansas
USA
223 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2009 : 4:40:15 PM
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Oh Yea, we were in Southern Michigan in a small town for that one. The local store ran out of bread and milk because the main highway was closed for so long no trucks with staples made it into our little town for about a week. Snowmobilers made sure all the neighbors had enough food to stay safe. Kids loved it cuz all that was left at the store was chocolate milk. It was beautiful but sure did make me uneasy not to be able to get out and about. We stayed nice and cozy and well fed though. I remember sweatshirts with "I survived the blizzard of 78" were a big seller.
keep searchin'-it's out there somewhere. |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2009 : 8:41:47 PM
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I well remember it! I wouldn't want another like it tho. My poor Daddy passed cars in the ditch on his way home from work, and found several people frozen to death. Then after he finally got into town, coz it was a ways from where he worked. It took him about 8 hours to travel 6 miles home on a backhoe with my uncle. We live way out in the country and we had 8 ft snow drifts. Dad was frozen when he made it home. My dear Mommy took his socks off and his pants and wrapped him up in front of the fireplace. My youngest sister was a baby and we had a hard time because she was almost out of formula. I just remember it was very stressful here in Southern Indiana. But days afterwards wasnt so bad, we missed about a month of school. But your right, it's been a long time since we've had a snow like that. Brrrrrr freezes me just thinking about it.
~~Blessings, Mikki Jo
"Courage is being scared to death... but saddling up anyway" ***John Wayne
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/iloveyoumom
http://burningmeadowsprings.blogspot.com/
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
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melanie47601
True Blue Farmgirl
1949 Posts
Melanie
Boonville
IN
USA
1949 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2009 : 05:40:25 AM
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I was concived that winter. I know TMI!! Mom said the winter we had a few years ago, 2005 I think, was pretty close to it. And with the ice storm last year. No I'm not crazy about winter. I like a little snow and then I'm done. But for you ladies that like it, I hope you get it. 
Melanie
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "Oh Crap, She's up!"
Blog~ http://wheelsarealwaysturning.blogspot.com/
Swap Blog~ http://mels-swapshop.blogspot.com/ |
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Diane B Carter
True Blue Farmgirl
1270 Posts
Diane
Blasdell
N.Y.
USA
1270 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2009 : 07:09:47 AM
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My favorite blizzard was in 1977. All you could see were rooftops and my uncle had to go to the hospital partway on a ski-do and I got the last flight out to North Carolina for basic training, then I went to the Marti-gra in New Orleans before going to Texas for training when I came home it was all melted.
Hope all your days are Sunnydays.
dianebcarterhotmailcom.blogspot.com |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2009 : 07:46:51 AM
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I don't remember any real bad blizzards growing up in Missouri, but I remember some relly bad ice storms, no power for days and days, people freezing to death, livestock dying, and if you were not on a farm or ranch, and did not have food put up, OMG, now the fear of that was more than enough for me.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2009 : 11:00:15 AM
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Another one happened around here in 2000. Was in an apartment then and took in my now husband for a few days and who on his fram was out of power for about a week and couldn't get out of his driveway/road due to all the mud.
Drive into work was very pretty and all the skinny pinetrees lining the main drive path were all criss-crossed over the road.
There were 4 people crammed into my truck all headed to work at the zoo.
That little Toyota 4x4 sure has outdone itself a time or two! |
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bbteacher
True Blue Farmgirl
134 Posts
Bonnie
BALTIMORE
Maryland
USA
134 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2009 : 11:27:16 AM
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Lisa,
The mid-west wasn't the only region to be covered with snow. Back in Maryland, in 78', we got 29 inches of snow. That was my first semester in college and Towson University was closed for a week. Now you know it must really be snowing for a college to close its doors for a week! It would have been fun, but I had to dig my car out and the driveway and the sidewalks...
Bonnie |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Dec 05 2009 : 4:37:13 PM
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| I remember that one too. My dad got stranded on the freeway trying to get home from work and was picked up by plow and spent a few days in a local school that had been turned into a shelter. Nothing on the roads but skiers and snow mobiles. I remember no school for about a week. People were mobilized to take food/meds to shut ins/elderly. We lived in town so we could walk to the store. I think my mom had this perpetual goulash going for anyone who needed something. We had a fireplace in one room, so when the power was out, we were toasty in there... |
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LisaH
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Lisa
Granger
IN
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Dec 07 2009 : 06:27:32 AM
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Wow! Sounds like many of you have experienced similar winters. When you are kid, and I was in 1978 all you see is the fun and not being in school for a week. So naturally, that's all I really remember.
N@n, what town in Southern Michigan were you living in at the time. I grew up in Southwest Michigan.
I vaguely remember hearing about people being stranded. I do remember hearing a story on the television about kids building tunnels under the snow and the snow collapsing on them and suffocating them. I never built tunnels but I had a great snow fort! We had snow up to our roof tops and would climb up to the top of the roof with our sleds! Probably not the smartest thing we could do but it sure was fun at the time!
I have been asked why I live in Indiana, and besides being close to my family I love the seasons. Yes, winter drags on too long at times, but I don't think I'd appreciate spring the same way without the snow and cold. Plus there is such a beautiful quietness when walking around in the winter.
Lisa
An Indiana Suburban Farmgirl |
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Mikki
True Blue Farmgirl
1510 Posts
Mikki
Austin
Indiana
USA
1510 Posts |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Dec 07 2009 : 12:15:20 PM
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We had just moved back to Kentucky after living in West Virginia. We were living in Richwood, and I remember watching the news of the Ohio River frozen completely over...cars were actually driving across it!!!!
I was only 4, and there is a picture that daddy took of me on top of a very high snow drift...
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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N@n
True Blue Farmgirl
223 Posts
Hackett
Arkansas
USA
223 Posts |
Posted - Dec 07 2009 : 6:31:06 PM
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Hey Lisa, I grew up in Adrian and graduated highschool there. Married my highschool sweetheart and in 1978 we were living in Addison, Michigan which is south of Jackson. My family is all still in the area so we get home often and now that we bought some acreage "up North" we intend to spend the entire summer up there.
keep searchin'-it's out there somewhere. |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Dec 08 2009 : 03:16:55 AM
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2 years ago Raleigh got hit by flurries. There was less than an inch on the road and a pileup on the beltway that lasted for hours was just CRAZY!!!
People panicked and tried to all go home and out to the stores as fast as they could at the same time.
NExt day there was nothing on the ground |
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LisaH
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Lisa
Granger
IN
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Dec 08 2009 : 10:18:18 AM
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N@n,
I know where Adrian is, but I have never actually been there. One of my roommates in college was from there. I grew up in Niles, which is just across the Indiana state line on the far west side of the state. I went to college at Ferris State in Big Rapids. I am mighty glad I no longer a student and have to endure the cold long walks to class.
Lisa
An Indiana Suburban Farmgirl |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Dec 09 2009 : 09:15:19 AM
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I grew up in Otsego, which is north of Kalamazoo off 131. Right in the snow-belt-corridor. I taught in Dowagiac for three years. Now I'm stranded in mid-michigan East of Lansing.
N@N, where is your acreage "up north"...would love to have a piece of my own land up thata-way too....ah...dreams. I hate the "flat". |
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LisaH
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Lisa
Granger
IN
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Dec 09 2009 : 11:38:19 AM
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My brother is in Kalamazoo and our high school band competed in Otsego every year and Dowagiac was as stones throw from Niles.
You mentioned the snow belt and they are getting clobbered today with a blizzard. It isn't real pleasant outside here but certainly far from being a blizzard.
Lisa
An Indiana Suburban Farmgirl |
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Across the Fence: Blizzard of 1978 |
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Blizzard of 1978
