Not long ago, some folks in my humble circle were reminiscing about the coldest temperature they’d ever witnessed here in Hunterdon County. A logical progression from that subject would seem to be the heaviest snowfall that ever WOWED any of us, that is, here in Hunterdon.

I am humored by the memory of my Dad, a Michigan boy in childhood, describing a certain snowstorm with the words, “it snowed like the hammers of hell”. That seemed quite descriptive to me.

One snowfall, I think in 1966 , it snowed like the proverbial hammers of Hell. I could hardly believe the sheer depth of the snow. Mind you, I’ve since witnessed a “lake effect” snow or two up on New York’s Tug Hill Plateau. That ‘66 snow surely rivaled what Tug Hill had to offer. That year it really did snow like the hammers of hell.

I recall the Piell farm here in Alexandria (corner of Mt. Salem Road and Rt. 579) a spot where the snow drifts so deeply that a plow wouldn’t move it. With a backhoe the road crew tunneled a path for the school bus through Piell’s barnyard, then re-joined the road. The view looking out the school bus window was simply a wall of white, taller than the top of the bus. That scene is indelibly etched in the mind of this former school kid…

Given this snapshot of history, I am disposed to ponder how present day Alexandria would have fared through the likes of that storm. What do you think?