Lakewood Lore

Nature delivered a knockout 40 years ago

Among the snows of yesteryear, that which fell four decades ago -- the last weekend of November 1950 -- was definitely a standout.

It started blowing with blizzard fury Thanksgiving night (Nov. 23) and for four days paralyzed Greater Cleveland with an accumulation of 21.2 inches of the white stuff.

Hundreds of motorists abandoned stalled autos. Stuck streetcars were strung along main arteries for miles. Bus routes were littered with coaches blocked by enormous drifts.

Most plants closed, and some employees who did manage to report in were marooned on their jobs. Trucks laden with food couldn't deliver. Babies were without milk, and groceries able to open were rationing it as well as bread.

Trains halted or were delayed, stranding scores of holiday travelers at Terminal Tower. Schools and department stores shut down. Funerals were held up.

Many Lakewoodites vividly recall experiences they had during the memorable weekend.

Pauline Groth, employee at "The Shanty," one-time Lakewood auto parts store, was one of the lucky ones able to get to work Friday morning. "When I got there I found the phone ringing off the hook; we were having a run on tire chains," she remembers.

John L. Scofield, retired superintendent of Lakewood's water department who then was a city engineer, also made it in.

"There were only a dozen of us employees who reached City Hall on Friday, and I handled the switchboard for the first hour," he said. "Everyone wanted his snow removed, but even if we could have, there was no place to put it."

Roland E. Detwiler of Nicholson Avenue didn't close his side door tightly Thursday night. "The wind whistled in through a narrow crack, and we had a huge pile of huge snow inside the house the next morning," he related.

According to Neil A. MacDonald, Lakewood landscaper, the snowflakes on Friday were "as big as silver dollars." That night, John R. Gerlach, then a college student home for Thanksgiving, ran into a white-out while walking. "Returning from my girl friend's house, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face," he commented.

After attending Thanksgiving dinner out of town, Kenneth G. Knaggs, a Lakewood High School teacher at the time, had to inch his way home on Saturday (Nov. 25) though a smothering blanket of snow with temperatures down to seven degrees.

"It took four hours to drive in about 50 miles from Norwalk, Ohio, and it was quite an experience what with three small children in the car," he said.

The city of Lakewood got an early jump on digging out and afterwards was commended for having weathered the meteorological haymaker much better than some suburbs that were completely kayoed.

By Wednesday (Nov. 29) two-lane traffic had been restored here by municipal snow plows and by two General Sherman Tanks and powerful six-wheel-drive trucks manned by Ohio Guardsmen stationed at Lakewood Armory.

Earlier, the storm had created an acute situation at Lakewood Hospital where many employees, due to report on Friday morning, called to say their situation was hopeless.

Furthermore, the hospital power lines broke down, leaving the building with only emergency electricity from its battery system. This meant no current to run elevators, pumps, stokers and refrigeration equipment.

However, many night people there remained on duty when their relief didn't show. Also, the community rose to the occasion, with neighbors coming in to mop floors, wash pots and pans, and distribute trays to the patients.

This writer, who lived in Lakewood and was employed downtown, decided to walk to work on Monday morning. He followed the tracks of the Madison streetcar line. The trek took two hours.

Crossing High Level Bridge, wind-whipped and choked by deep snow banks, was the hardest part. Imagining he was Peary at the North Pole was the easiest.

This article appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post November 29, 1990. Reprinted with permission.

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