Those were the days

The post below got me to thinking about how times have changed.

I'm sure there's a tractor in here somewhere.

When mom was young they had a bad snow storm start after school started. They called Harold Schrag that drove the bus (one room) and he came but it was too late. They started home and made it to their first stop. The bus was stuck. All 17 of the kids and Harold knocked on the door of that kid and went in where they stayed for three days. Can you imagine doing that today??? First of all we'd never have enough food! I'd get reported to PETA when I butchered something to feed the kiddies!

Just before I was born they had a storm like that at home. My brother, dad, grandma, and grandpa piled in the pickup and went to check cattle who were due to calve at the first pasture south of the house. They got to the pasture and it was already bad enough that they got stuck at the first draw. Grandpa and dad walked the two miles home by holding the fences and each other. Grandma kept starting the pickup to keep warm and getting out to clear the tailpipe as the snow piled up. Grandpa said he would have frozen to death without dad keeping him going. When they got home the dug the new 856 Wheatland (there's the tractor!) out of the snow bank and dad held a piece of plate glass in front of grandpa's face while they drove back to pull the pickup home. The snow piled and drifted up until you had to walk out of the second story windows on the farmhouse.

There are so many things I think back on fondly, and I can't help but think we've ruined some of those. Some I'm happy to do without. Those four wheel drive pickup totally ruined your chances of freezing to death walking home!

I would take them in, feed them whatever we have.

When I started to school (1950) it didn't cancel unless the busses couldn't get through. One morning our bus got stuck more than once and one of those times an amishman with a team of horses pulled our bus out of a drift. Maybe he didn't want us staying at his house lol! And that day our 2 room school was cancelled.

My parents used to leave the outside light on in a storm, so if anyone needed help they knew to come to the house. I have posted on here about my dad inviting some youngsters in for breakfast when he found them camped in our field during the 69 Woodstock Festival.

Not far from me there is a hill called roller coaster the trick is send a buss out before the rest if it makes roller coaster the schools are on if not yippee schools off.

I would have enough food canned up to feed that many for a month or more. Would have to drink water not milk.

Ours was called 'Devil's Dip' and it was finally closed by the County. There was a one lane bridge at the bottom and there's a newer home built on the East end of the 'dip'. It was known as the steepest road in Polk County.

Where you at?

The is a hill North of Cascade Iowa called that.

I was in Junior High when the bus got stuck in our drive. The driver walked to our neighbor, who she knew, to call the school. I went and got a tractor and the farm boy, who was in high school, from down the road drove the bus. We pulled it out and he drove the bus to the neighbors to get the driver. The bus had about twenty kids on it. Try that now days.

Early 1980 time frame my lady friend was school superintendent. I had 3 coal trucks out who would call in if roads were really slick. I would then recommend that school would be canceled.

"The snow piled and drifted up until you had to walk out of the second story windows on the farmhouse. "

Someone had an old picture on here that showed the snow up to the power lines and people were walking around at the top of the pole depth. Is that when your snowstorm occurred during that time period? Those were good days when people pulled together and got 'er done. Now you are more likely to get robbed and assaulted...for your helping :shock:

Our school district will close the schools if more than 1" is forecast. And there are VERY few dirt roads. Most are 2 or more lane paved and paved subdivisions. They've been known to close the schools before a flake falls on the FORECAST, only to have the storm miss. :roll:

There is a street or road in the neighboring town with a big sign at the top " Hill not A SHED"

Lee Goering (transportation supervisor) got up early and took an old bus out and ran a route to determine whether school was to be canceled. You did not want to have to compete with Lee at the school bus rodeo. He could make an old Ford bus walk on water.

My personal favorite happened about 10 years ago. The big three school districts here always cancel together no matter what. The bus barn washed all of the buses on an inservice day. That night it got colder than expected. They couldn't get the buses open the next morning. The other two big ones canceled school too - for no reason.

My dad was the transportation director for our school district, it was his call to close the schools. He would get out early in the morning and drive around to see how the roads were. He was old school and wouldn't cancel school unless it was real bad. We would ride the bus all the way to school in snow or ice as long as the snow wasn't deep.

Turn the page to modern times, I have seen them cancel school in the last few years just because the weatherman said it's probably going to snow the next day, just like someone else mentioned above. Last year they called for 6 to 8 inches of snow and they canceled school the day before , then it was sunny all day long.

They cancel school based on forecasts because if they wait until the snow actually falls parents don't have much time to make alternative day care arrangements. As a working single Dad I always appreciated that.