ATHOL – The two rounds of the first winter storm of the season didn’t deter some from operating their businesses as usual or at all.
Ron’s Fuel in Athol had two trucks out on the road, according to Pam, an employee. “There were a few stops that we couldn’t touch. It’s definitely hard to get around out there.” Another employee, Jaimee, said the delivery people have been doing their best to help everybody and that they wanted to thank their customers for shoveling pathways. “It certainly made their jobs easier and safer,” she said.
Athol Post Office Supervisor Tony Brosca said there were a few addresses they couldn’t get to for mail delivery on Monday and would try again on Tuesday. “Mostly everything went out,” he said. “They try their best to get everything delivered.”
Domino’s Pizza in Athol was spotted making numerous deliveries on Monday. General Manager and co-owner Gordon Wild said “we did pretty good,” despite it being a “slow process” and “a long night.” Deliveries were stopped around 10 p.m. Sunday, and normal delivery hours resumed Monday night. Wild said that the customers “were great for wait time” because some deliveries took up to an hour. “There were no real problems, just a couple of drivers who got stuck but managed to get out.” He said the biggest obstacles were driveways, and that “Some of the streets the drivers had to walk up because they couldn’t drive up them.” He said they opened their regular hours on Tuesday at 10 a.m. at which time the roads were “pretty bare and were cleared out early.”
Pam Harris of Orange Oil in New Salem said they were “all in” to make deliveries throughout the storm with three trucks on the road. “We had the men come in later to give towns time to plow,” she said. “Some of them have been doing this for 30 to 40 years, so it’s nothing new.” She said paths that haven’t been cleared can make it more challenging, and that they’ve had to make some deliveries in waist-deep snow, requiring extra help to carry the heavy hose. Harris said she understands there are some customers who cannot shovel, and suggested that if they have someone who plows their driveway to ask if they can also shovel a path for oil deliveries.
Many comments were heard about how the amount of snow that fell the second time exceeded some predictions. DPW Assistant Superintendent Richard Kilhart said “that’s okay,” because his crew was ready. “We made it through in fairly good fashion,” he said. “It seemed to clean up well.”
Kilhart said they spent the better part of mid-morning Tuesday responding to different areas to clean up large snow bankings that made it difficult for people to see around. “It’s all in the advent of public safety,” he said.
Just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, Kilhart said the crew was just about ready to go home after completing a full two days. They will be given a day to recover before going out again, possibly Thursday night when there’s less traffic, to work on the large snowpiles throughout town.
Kilhart said the DPW had “a host of folks” giving favorable comments on social media for the work it had done throughout the winter storm.
“We’re pretty happy and pretty proud of the way the group performed,” he said.