Thanks to Thurmont Town Staff by Kenny Oland
April 3, 2010
The snow storms of February 2010 will not be soon forgotten. 40+ inches of snow within 10 days is more than we have had in a long time. I’m sure that there are a number of people who are hoping that it will be a long time before we experience it again.
A little information about the Town of Thurmont, which you may not be aware of, the area of the corporate limits is about 4 square miles, about 28 miles of streets, about 1 ½ miles of sidewalks, 6 parking lots, and 10 parks which are maintained by the 5 member staff, including the Superintendent Butch West, of the Streets and Parks Department.
During snow and ice events the Streets and Parks Department must call on other departments for manpower to assist in clearing the streets and sidewalks of snow and ice and the spreading of salt. During the February 2010 blizzard the Town of Thurmont had 10 Town employees working around the clock to open the streets and then attempt to keep them open while the wind blew, the snow drifted and more snow fell. Before it was over these 10 men put in over 1,200 hours, not getting home to take care of their own families until the Town streets were passable and safe.
During these storms the Town had two large dump trucks, 2 medium dump trucks, 5 pick-up trucks, 2 backhoes, 1 bobcat with a snow blower attachment, and 2 walk behind snow blowers working to open the streets, Town maintained sidewalks, and parking lots, while using over 63 tons of salt.
Assisting the Town was W. F. Delauter & Son, Inc. by providing 2 large rubber tire loaders, 1 bobcat loader, and 3 tandem axle dump trucks. Kirby Delauter, working with Butch West, made the clearing of the streets of Thurmont a priority.
Mr. West stated that as they worked to open the streets the Town began to run out of fuel. Mr. Delauter was not able to get his fuel truck to Town so the Town called upon Bernie Sweeney, Direct-To-You Gas on North Church Street, who made his way to his gas station, opened it to allow the Town to purchase fuel to continue in their efforts to clear the streets.
As we not reflect on those 10 days, we can be thankful to the few dedicated, hard working town employees that go unnoticed as they go about their daily tasks of making Thurmont the place we chose to call home.
We should also be thankful for people like Kirby Delauter, W. F. Delauter & Son, for his assistance in opening streets and clearing the downtown area of snow. To Bernie Sweeney, Direct-To-You Gas, for coming out during the storm to open his station so the equipment could obtain fuel to keep going.
Last, but not least, the Town employees who worked all those hours to clear the streets so we could get back to “normal” as soon as we did.
They are, Left side, back row: Tim Eyler, Streets/Parks, Brad Weddle, Electric, Gary Hodges, Electric. Front Row: Butch West, Superintendent Streets/Parks, Jeff Kilby, Sewer.
Right side, back row: Danny Miller, Streets/Parks, Jim Brown, Zoning. Front row: Dave Grimm, Streets/Parks, and Lee Hanvey, Streets/Parks. Not present Troy Wastler, Sewer.
After pushing all that snow, clearing the streets, parking lots, and sidewalks Mr. West is proud to report no one was injured.
With the information presented in this article, the next time you see one of these hard working, dedicated employees quietly going about their daily tasks, you might want to stop and thank them. Thank them, not only for what they did during the blizzard but what they do every day to make Thurmont the Town you call home.
Thank you guys for all you do every day.
Kenny Oland
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