I live east of this gentleman's area and I remember that blizzard well. In fact 76, 77 and 78 were all bad winters but as a teenager, I remember it as fun!
This interview was a heck of a lot more interesting than one would think by just passing by. He really did capture the survival spirit of rural Ohioans during the blizzard of 1978, and his story is quite the same as ours with only fairly minor differences, and of thousands of other Ohioans basically stuck in place during this epic storm. I was an 18 year old high school senior in rural central Ohio (Alexandria Ohio, Licking county) and like this gentelman my father was pretty resourceful. He was able to clean up and attatch an ancient natural gas fed heater in our living room that he blocked off with plastic sheets so we stayed warm and camped out there. We had food, candles, flashlights, etc and also flushed with melted snow. Like nearly everyone else our cars were snowed in but our road was opened up on the 27th. I had a CB radio (which was quite popular in 78) I hooked to a car battery and was impressed that the normal CB chatter was replaced with a powerfull base station guy taking radio calls for people with four wheel drive vehicles, snowmobiles, and other needs like fuel, food and medicine, and relaying that information to the national guard by phone. So in turn, now at 58 yeras old I learned some lessons I can directly attribute to the blizzard of 78. I keep a 4WD vehicle, batteries, lanterns, flashlights, portable radios, firewood, a generator and fuel, and yes even communications gear (both CB and ham radio) for if/when the cell service fails. Prepper? I guess so but not for what you may think....
I think a lot of us have remained peppers because of that time period! 1977, '78, even '80 was a harsh winter. Looks like we may be going in that direction again!
Raymond, what an amazing piece of history. You clearly kept your head and proved that a storm doesn't have to become your disaster. I was in Toledo and I don't recall exactly how much snow we got, but Curtice being surrounded by open farm fields would most likely get much deeper drifts than we did. I remember the snow coming up to my waist and we never lost electric, but my car did get stuck. That was quite a weekend.
Well done! Glad you recorded this for future generations. Bless the kind gentleman who took part in the interview. I too "survived" the blizzard of '78.
I lived in a mobile home in Fremont Ohio, Just got married 6 months before. My wife & I had no electricity & live in the kitchen heated by our gas stove, about a week. I worked at Eckrich lunch meat at the time. National Guard removed the snow for us.
I was living in Port Clinton Ohio youngster during this blizzard. After we were able to get out of the house, we would go for a walk on the snowdrifts. Look over and there’s the top of the telephone pole sticking out of the drift
This is a very good Storyteller this man is and he's sharp as a tack.... I remember this you're well my daughter was about a year-and-a-half old.. the wind was howling like you would not believe... the snow drifts were so high you couldn't even get out of the house if you wanted to.. my daughter and I were living in a . Efficiency..(small one bed room living room& kitchen all in one room) . Bathroom out in the hall.. the rent was $80 a month.. just imagine that.?? . I felt like we were in The Wizard of Oz the wind was so . Very strong 30-50 . Mile an hour winds. . There was no walking to any store whatever food you add that's what we had.. I remember making flour and water pancake with no syrup and I used a tiny bit of that I found to put on the top..yummy. . Of course we both survived but it was horrible. I had to keep my young daughter away from the window cuz she didn't understand that it could have blown right through the glass.. and the weight of the snow was so heavy... lots of memories
I was in middle school in Covington Ohio. I remember the snow drifts were up to 20 feet and higher, it was the most amazing thing to see. The best part was we were out of school for 3 days.
Hi, Roy, we're from Covington, too. I was out of school by then, with 2 little ones, but my husband's siblings were still in school. Do you remember anything about a semi on 41 covered over completely? He used a broom handle out his window and they found him because of that!
I remember it..Northern Indiana...lots of snow for sure. The weather man said it was coming. My dad and his best friend..plowed with their tractors. I think they had a good time plowing snow. Never will see it again..I bet
And...I HOPE! Fort Wayne, Indiana...we looked out the front door the next morning and said:”That’s one hell of a drift!” We were “in love” and prayed for MORE snow. :)
I remember it very well, I was 23 at the time, and was at work that evening(we got out of work at midnight). I lived about a mile and a half from the factory I was working in(Montpelier Ohio). My transportation at the time was my 76 Camero. I had parked next to an old 20x20 storage shed(on the south side of it). When I finally got to my car, I realized that it was the only car that wasn't buried under a drift. I was able to work my way out of the lot, and got on the main road home. They had just plowed that part, but there was a four foot wall of snow on both sides of the road that blocked every drive way. To get into my drive, I had to put my car sideways in the road facing my drive. I backed up till my bumper was in the North snow bank, then I put it in low and stood on it. I got the tail of my car into my driveway just five feet in from the main road. I went in and checked on my family(wife and three children), then got my snowmobile out and went back to the shop so I could check on the guys who were stuck there on 3rd shift. On the way back to the shop, I had to go through a major intersection, which at the time of going home from work was still open. But by the time I went back to the shop, I could not see ten feet in front of me, and in the middle of the intersection there, dead center, was an abandoned van which I missed hitting by a foot. After about an hour at the shop, I went back home and to bed. The next morning, all I could see was one foot of my CB antenna sticking out of a snow bank. The rest of the car was buried. It took me three hours to dig it out by hand, and to dig out to the road. The funny thing was, I would no more than get my drive opened, and the plow would come along and fill it back in.
4 years old Lake Twp. Across from cemetery.Lights went out 1st night, lots of blankets,battery operated radio,Drifts up to second story window.The National Guard rescued My mother, me and the four of my siblings 3 older 1 younger on the 3rd day took us to Glenwood school in Rossford.
I don't remember too much about it, but we had to shovel our driveway which was about 100 feet; we were in Northeast Ohio. No school and we could only go to town when the snow was plowed. I do remember the plowed snow on the side of the road was about 10 feet tall.
Grandpa is wise he has many years of experience,listen up young people you just might learn something.I can only imagine what would today's teens do with no cell phone internet,when all his girls were worried about was washing their hair and putting on makeup LOL
Exciting time when I was 15 years old. We all had school off and had fun exploring the streets. Our parents were far more worried. Great memories
I live east of this gentleman's area and I remember that blizzard well. In fact 76, 77 and 78 were all bad winters but as a teenager, I remember it as fun!
I lived in Defiance for 10 years and people shared a lot of stories about the blizzard as most were life long natives.
This interview was a heck of a lot more interesting than one would think by just passing by. He really did capture the survival spirit of rural Ohioans during the blizzard of 1978, and his story is quite the same as ours with only fairly minor differences, and of thousands of other Ohioans basically stuck in place during this epic storm. I was an 18 year old high school senior in rural central Ohio (Alexandria Ohio, Licking county) and like this gentelman my father was pretty resourceful. He was able to clean up and attatch an ancient natural gas fed heater in our living room that he blocked off with plastic sheets so we stayed warm and camped out there. We had food, candles, flashlights, etc and also flushed with melted snow. Like nearly everyone else our cars were snowed in but our road was opened up on the 27th. I had a CB radio (which was quite popular in 78) I hooked to a car battery and was impressed that the normal CB chatter was replaced with a powerfull base station guy taking radio calls for people with four wheel drive vehicles, snowmobiles, and other needs like fuel, food and medicine, and relaying that information to the national guard by phone. So in turn, now at 58 yeras old I learned some lessons I can directly attribute to the blizzard of 78. I keep a 4WD vehicle, batteries, lanterns, flashlights, portable radios, firewood, a generator and fuel, and yes even communications gear (both CB and ham radio) for if/when the cell service fails. Prepper? I guess so but not for what you may think....
I think a lot of us have remained peppers because of that time period! 1977, '78, even '80 was a harsh winter. Looks like we may be going in that direction again!
Raymond, what an amazing piece of history. You clearly kept your head and proved that a storm doesn't have to become your disaster. I was in Toledo and I don't recall exactly how much snow we got, but Curtice being surrounded by open farm fields would most likely get much deeper drifts than we did. I remember the snow coming up to my waist and we never lost electric, but my car did get stuck. That was quite a weekend.
Well done! Glad you recorded this for future generations. Bless the kind gentleman who took part in the interview. I too "survived" the blizzard of '78.
sbatncpl I grew up in toledo Ohio and I was 5 years old and we got 4 ft of snow and 100 mph winter
I lived in Canton in 1978 I was 22 n believe me it was REAL BAD N REAL COLD
I was 20 in 77 in Illinois and that winter was no joke. We've talked about it ever since
I lived in a mobile home in Fremont Ohio, Just got married 6 months before. My wife & I had no electricity & live in the kitchen heated by our gas stove, about a week. I worked at Eckrich lunch meat at the time. National Guard removed the snow for us.
I was living in Port Clinton Ohio youngster during this blizzard. After we were able to get out of the house, we would go for a walk on the snowdrifts. Look over and there’s the top of the telephone pole sticking out of the drift
The part about the frozen blue jay broke my heart. That's so sweet that they rescued the bird.
thank you for this account. It makes this so real.
I remember a warning on the 11 oclock news the night befor but no one paid attention to it.
This is a very good Storyteller this man is and he's sharp as a tack.... I remember this you're well my daughter was about a year-and-a-half old.. the wind was howling like you would not believe... the snow drifts were so high you couldn't even get out of the house if you wanted to.. my daughter and I were living in a . Efficiency..(small one bed room living room& kitchen all in one room) . Bathroom out in the hall.. the rent was $80 a month.. just imagine that.?? . I felt like we were in The Wizard of Oz the wind was so . Very strong 30-50 . Mile an hour winds. . There was no walking to any store whatever food you add that's what we had.. I remember making flour and water pancake with no syrup and I used a tiny bit of that I found to put on the top..yummy. . Of course we both survived but it was horrible. I had to keep my young daughter away from the window cuz she didn't understand that it could have blown right through the glass.. and the weight of the snow was so heavy... lots of memories
I was in middle school in Covington Ohio. I remember the snow drifts were up to 20 feet and higher, it was the most amazing thing to see. The best part was we were out of school for 3 days.
Hi, Roy, we're from Covington, too. I was out of school by then, with 2 little ones, but my husband's siblings were still in school. Do you remember anything about a semi on 41 covered over completely? He used a broom handle out his window and they found him because of that!
great too hear his story's and that he and his son's helped their neighbors.
13 kids! How to stay warm each winter.
what a story teller... he didn't need prompting at all... I hope I'm that sharp at that age, hope my dad is too.
I remember it..Northern Indiana...lots of snow for sure. The weather man said it was coming. My dad and his best friend..plowed with their tractors. I think they had a good time plowing snow. Never will see it again..I bet
And...I HOPE! Fort Wayne, Indiana...we looked out the front door the next morning and said:”That’s one hell of a drift!” We were “in love” and prayed for MORE snow. :)
I remember it very well, I was 23 at the time, and was at work that evening(we got out of work at midnight). I lived about a mile and a half from the factory I was working in(Montpelier Ohio). My transportation at the time was my 76 Camero. I had parked next to an old 20x20 storage shed(on the south side of it). When I finally got to my car, I realized that it was the only car that wasn't buried under a drift. I was able to work my way out of the lot, and got on the main road home. They had just plowed that part, but there was a four foot wall of snow on both sides of the road that blocked every drive way. To get into my drive, I had to put my car sideways in the road facing my drive. I backed up till my bumper was in the North snow bank, then I put it in low and stood on it. I got the tail of my car into my driveway just five feet in from the main road. I went in and checked on my family(wife and three children), then got my snowmobile out and went back to the shop so I could check on the guys who were stuck there on 3rd shift. On the way back to the shop, I had to go through a major intersection, which at the time of going home from work was still open. But by the time I went back to the shop, I could not see ten feet in front of me, and in the middle of the intersection there, dead center, was an abandoned van which I missed hitting by a foot. After about an hour at the shop, I went back home and to bed. The next morning, all I could see was one foot of my CB antenna sticking out of a snow bank. The rest of the car was buried. It took me three hours to dig it out by hand, and to dig out to the road. The funny thing was, I would no more than get my drive opened, and the plow would come along and fill it back in.
4 years old Lake Twp. Across from cemetery.Lights went out 1st night, lots of blankets,battery operated radio,Drifts up to second story window.The National Guard rescued My mother, me and the four of my siblings 3 older 1 younger on the 3rd day took us to Glenwood school in Rossford.
I remember that storm . 28 foot snow drift on side of are barn. No power for two weeks. I lived in Delaware ohio.
what a GREAT Video!!!! This old guy is a HOOT!!!
I was 12 years old when the bizzard of 1978 in Dayton ohio
I don't remember too much about it, but we had to shovel our driveway which was about 100 feet; we were in Northeast Ohio. No school and we could only go to town when the snow was plowed. I do remember the plowed snow on the side of the road was about 10 feet tall.
Grandpa is wise he has many years of experience,listen up young people you just might learn something.I can only imagine what would today's teens do with no cell phone internet,when all his girls were worried about was washing their hair and putting on makeup LOL
Correction: I found a little BIT OF JAM- JELLY.
Good job here’s a 6th subscriber
Holly crap
I was 1 so these stories and images are all I have.