THE BIG SNOW

People who lived in the Detroit area in the 1960's and are old enough to remember February of 1965 will probably remember the big snowstorm that hit the city that winter.

The record books called it the biggest snow fall Detroit had seen in thirty-six years.

The date was Thursday February 26,1965. There were a number of whether reports on television, radio and in the newspapers back than but it was still a fraction of the coverage we have today. I am not sure if anyone was aware of the amount of snow that was on the way.

The snow began falling at about 8:00 P.M. the evening before. I think most folks were very surprised when they got up to go to work or school on Thursday morning the 26th and found the city was buried in snow. By 8:00 A.M. that morning a foot of heavy snow had fallen over the entire Detroit area. The temperature was eleven degrees with seventeen mile an hour wind and snow drifts as high four feet. The snow continued to fall most of the day.

In 1965 most people did not have a garage. Cars were usually parked in the driveway or on the street. This created a situation where cars were covered with a lot of heavy snow unable to be moved in many cases. The city did not have as much snow removal equipment in those days. Due to streets being filled with cars covered in heavy snow, strong winds and snow drifts it was very difficult to move snow removal equipment down residential streets. By mid-morning the word was out most businesses and schools would be closed. The process of digging out of the big snow would begin.

Thursday and Friday remained cold gray days. Men women and children pitched in to help.

They worked on cleaning and digging out the cars. Businesses began to reopen on Friday afternoon. Schools announced they would reopen on Monday.

At the time of this snowstorm I was attending a local college located in Downtown Detroit,

I also had a part time job as a clerk in a drug store about five miles from my house. I was scheduled to work Friday night from five until ten o'clock at night. The family car was still stuck in the snow in front of the house. I called my employer to confirm the store was open.

The drug store was open. I called the bus company to check if buses were running. I was told not all but one bus was running that could get me about a half mile from my job. I left my house walked to the bus stop. I rode the bus to the stop closets to the drug store where I worked. Walked the half mile though the cold and snow. Arrived in time for my five o'clock shift. Five hours later I made the same trip in reverse. I arrived home about eleven P.M. This entire adventure took about seven hours. I was earning ninety cents per hour. {This was before inflation}.

The sun came out and temperature rose by Monday things were back to normal. Sixty years later and I am still proud of having worked my shift and earned $4.50 cents gross during the big snow of 1965.

WRITTEN BY

RON TURETT