There are no strangers in a snowstorm. When Winter Storm Ezekiel hit the region on Sunday, piling up snow faster than it could be cleared away, residents rallied. They helped dig each other out of snowdrifts, pulled cars back onto the road, or stopped to help people struggling just to exit their driveways.
The most common ending to these stories?
“I didn’t even get their name.”
Michael Watkinson of New Ipswich is a long road trucker, who was supposed to be back on the road on Monday. But by the time morning came around, his tractor-trailer flatbed, which he keeps parked at the NeWest Mall, was so snugly snowed in by more than a foot of snow that he knew it would be a bear to get on the road.
But he had no other options, and began gamely shoveling. It wasn’t long until he got an offer of assistance from someone with a plow on their truck. He removed the majority of the snow, saving what Watkinson said would have been six hours of work to do by hand.
“I would have still been out there shoveling,” Watkinson said. “He almost got stuck himself. He just did me a huge favor.”
Watkinson said he didn’t have any cash on him, but offered to fill the man’s gas tank on his credit card as a thank you, but ultimately, the man left without accepting any reward.
“And I didn’t even get his name. But I’m grateful. I’m so very grateful.”
It’s just part of the culture when you live in storm-prone New England, said Eric Jackman of Peterborough. When he was stuck in his driveway, and had been struggling for about two hours trying to dig himself out or power through the snow that had piled up, he said he felt no qualms about stepping to the end of his driveway and waving to a passing driver with a plow.
As it turned out, the driver was a former workmate, and he and his brother helped push Jackman out of his driveway. The two hadn’t interacted since they once worked together, Jackman said, but that didn’t matter at all when it came to lending a hand to someone in need.
“That’s the beautiful thing about living in a small community where everyone knows everyone,” Jackman said. “We have a neighborly vibe. It’s something that sets us aside from the rest of the country. Generosity and human kindness is in high supply, and that’s why we can endure these winters in the corners of the world – there’s still kindness and decency.”
Cam Auxer of Peterborough said she has depended on that community spirit since moving to the area from Pennsylvania last year. With several chronic health conditions, including a history of multiple heart attacks, she’s not supposed to do strenuous activities such as shoveling, but initially attempted to clear out her car on her own anyway, she said Wednesday. When she began to feel dizzy, she admitted defeat and knocked on the door of her neighbor, Liane Rousseau, who immediately agreed to assist. Rousseau often checks on her and makes sure Auxer knows she’s available to assist her, she said.
“It’s so comforting to have that sense of community when you’re new to a community, and it’s essential for me,” Auxer said.
Honey Hastings of Temple, the communications coordinator for the Temple Plowing Cooperative, said the co-op got several last-minute customers before the storm, but one call stood out. A new grandmother, whose son and wife recently moved to Temple, called to ask if it was possible for her son’s driveway to be plowed so that the family could come home from the hospital with their new baby.
Hastings said when she contacted Steve Andersen, who coordinates the plow’s snow routes, it wasn’t even a question. In fact, Andersen was on hand when the couple returned home on Monday night to ensure they were able to get into their driveway.
“This is a community-based program,” Hastings said, “and that’s an example of what the co-op is about. It was just a special welcome to this newest Temple resident.”
Jenny Seaton of Mason said she was driving home from her job at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua on Tuesday morning, after pulling an overnight shift, and turned onto Old County Road in Mason, not realizing that it was still unplowed and driving her care into nearly a foot of snow, which immediately clogged up under her car and got her firmly stuck.
She called her husband, but said she had no doubt that before he could make his way to her – about a half-hour drive – that someone else would come along and be willing to help. Sure enough, a couple in a pick-up truck, and then a man with a plow both stopped to help dig her out and get her back on the road.
“That’s how it is,” Seaton said. “It seems everyone is ready to help each other, just because it’s the right thing to do.”
The plow driver was on his way to clear 15 driveways, and the couple was on their way to help another stuck driver, Seaton said. But that didn’t stop them from coming to her aid.
“I just want to thank them for being kind and helping when they didn’t have to. I appreciate it,” she said.
Watkinson said he and his family only recently moved back to the area from Ohio last year, and while human kindness can be found anywhere, he said it was particularly prevalent in New England.
“We’ve never had so much help,” Watkinson said. “People just weren’t this considerate and this kind in Ohio. It reminds me of being far south – this is southern hospitality, New England style. It really makes me want to pay it forward.”
Deb Mortvedt of Wilton said she was also moved to pay it forward, by recognizing the plow drivers who worked long hours from Sunday night throughout Tuesday clearing away snow, by bringing the Wilton Highway Department some food.
Mortvedt lives on Badger Hill Road, which is a difficult hill to get up in a snow storm, so she knows how vital the highway department is, she said.
“On Sunday, when all of this started landing, I heard the snowplow out there at 5 a.m., well before I was out of bed,” Mortvedt said.
Mortvedt said the Highway Department doesn’t have an auxiliary or a kitchen as the fire and police department’s do, and said she wanted to make sure they were recognized for their work.
“That’s the meaning of this season,” Watkinson said. “It’s the season of thanks, and of giving.”