Alex Paul
Sam Lacontro was sitting in the living room of his family’s comfortable home at 4516 Long New Year’s day when he saw a puff of snow fly from the ground into the air.
“I jumped up and ran to the door and saw this 50 foot tree that had fallen across the yard,” said the retired truck driver who has lived in the home five years with his wife, Donna. “It wiped out some bushes and a magnolia tree but it didn’t touch the house.”
His wife added, “By the grace of God it fell the way it did.”
Lacontro had come out earlier in the day to shake heavy, wet snow from the limbs of his neighbor, Wanda Farley’s tree.
“We were worried because the limbs were really heavy with snow and they were laying on our power lines,” Lacontro said. “Our power had flickered a few times.”
The new year’s day storm that struck Sweet Home somewhat by surprise fooled the Lacontros and some friends who had played cards together to welcome in the New Year.
“Our friends said maybe they should get going home but I looked out and it was just raining,” Lacontro said. “They went home later but the next morning, whew, I saw big old snow flakes.”
Fortunately, Lacontro’s wife had given him the perfect Christmas gift…a new chainsaw.
“I had back problems and couldn’t use my old saw because it was too heavy,” Lacontro said. “This new one has a 21 inch bar.”
He planned to put it to the test, sawing up the fir that will be used to help heat the home it narrowly missed striking.
Reports of three to more than a foot of snow struck the Sweet Home area, knocking out power provided by both Pacific Power and Consumers Power. Most electrical power had been restored by early Friday morning but a few homes were without power for several days.
Not everyone was inconvenieced by the snow.
For youngsters, it meant another day of Christmas vacation, since classes were canceled Monday.
Krystal Menin, 10, a neighbor to the Lacontros, spent Friday morning using a shovel to build an igloo.
On seventh avenue, Troy Hopper and his neighbors, Chris Phillips and Steve Jakeway, spent a few hours New Year’s day afternoon, building a huge snowman.
“We used hair dye (blue, orange, pink, green) to add some color,” Hopper said. “It was a lot of fun.”
A block away, Randy Jones was busy baling water from a fiberglass boat left uncovered. Water was pouring out of the drain hole and a water hose used as a siphon. Jones was busy using a coffee can to pull even more water from the completely filled boat.
“It’s for sale…and this proves it doesn’t leak,” Jones said laughing.
Recent SHHS graduates Ricky Stock and Paris Ramsey showed off a giant igloo they constructed at Husky Field.
The duo, along with friends Brian Seward and Joe Rosa, spent from 4 p.m. New Year’s day until 4 a.m. Friday, building snow blocks with a recycling bin and stacking them into a dome more than seven feet tall. The interior of the igloo was tall enough for the builders to stand upright.
“I was wearing two pairs of pants and I was still numb,” Ramsey said.
Nearby, youngsters on brightly colored sleds–yellow, orange and green–were flying down the hillside at the Sweet Home Junior High.
One young man, riding a snowboard, zipped down the hill at full speed and then, wham, struck a rock and did a front flip.
“Wow, I’ve never done that before,” he said, dusting himself off and heading back up the hill for another joy ride at full speed.