BRRRRR — If you lived in the area 35 years ago, there’s a good chance you remember the Blizzard of 1977, which struck around noon on Jan. 28.

Lancaster Bee history columnist Stanley J. Keysa recently shared his memories of the infamous storm — an “outstanding weather event for anyone who lived through it,” he said.

“The blizzard was marked not so much by new snow (only about 12 inches fell) but by deep temperatures and high winds, which lifted huge quantities of snow from frozen Lake Erie. Total snowfall doubled from an average of 99 inches to 199 inches. In Lancaster, drifts covered houses on Bowen Road, and were as deep as 18 feet on Ransom Road south of Cayuga Creek and 15 feet on Town Line Road at Jane Drive. Kids could lean against the traffic signal at Pleasant View Drive and Harris Hill Road. Hundreds of cars and trucks were buried.

“President Jimmy Carter, in office little over a week, declared it a federal disaster, bringing $50 million of aid to Erie County (about $150 million today). Thousands would later line up for food stamps at the Municipal Building.

“Larger snowfalls would come (seven feet falling after Christmas, 2001), and more damaging storms (including the unexpected “October Surprise” of 2006), but the Blizzard of 1977 will not be forgotten by those who lived through it.”

The biggest weather event I have lived through — so far — was Rochester’s Ice Storm in March 1991. I’m sure it made the news here. Our family went without electricity and school for about two weeks. Fortunately we had a fireplace and camped out in the family room. I had always liked pioneer times and was obsessed with the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I thought the time romantic and simpler.

The novelty of our pioneer days — reading by candlelight, eating canned soup heated in the fireplace, sleeping on the floor like some cowboy out on the range — quickly wore off. But the memories of that time remain. Everyone who lived through it has an Ice Storm story — just like the Blizzard of ’77 here.

When we finally went outside, it was like we had stumbled onto another planet. My father, sister and I walked under a canopy of tree limbs and power lines weighed down by ice. It was the most quiet I had ever heard, disrupted once in a while by a chain saw working away at a felled tree. It was like being inside a snow globe. It was gorgeous.

The storm caused devastation that took some people months to recover from. We lost a fence and our beloved cherry tree. We wound up with tons of firewood — and some good stories.

We were lucky.

by DAVID F. SHERMAN
Managing Editor

GET YOUR FISH — The observance of Lent begins Feb. 22, and with it comes numerous fish fry dinners sponsored by churches and community groups. The Bee will publish a list of these Lenten fish dinners, which can be kept for reference in the weeks ahead, in the Feb. 15 and 16 editions. We will not publish fish fry announcements after that week.

The deadline to submit fish fry listings will be 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10. Paid advertisements for these events will be accepted at any time. For advertising information, call 204-4937.