Think this has been a tough winter? Compared to the winter of 1971, this one has been the proverbial piece of cake.
The city and counties already had 150 inches (380 centimetres) since Dec. 1 when a blizzard whipped by gale-force winds raced in during the overnight hours of March 4, 1971, dumping 24 inches (61 centimeters) of snow over several hours.
By early morning the city and counties were at a standstill as plows unable to cope were taken off the streets and roads or abandoned.
Nobody could remember the last time the city’s downtown business section had been closed by a snowstorm. And not just for one day, but two.
Rural communities overnight became isolated ghost towns buried in a sea of snow.
In all, 500 transports and dozens of cars were abandoned on Highway 401 between Morrisburg and the Quebec border after they stalled in five-foot drifts. Snowmobiles were used to rescue stranded drivers and passengers.
Mrs. Earl Brownell had the occupants of nine cars stranded on the Avonmore Road as unexpected guests.
In Morrisburg, the local legion branch became a shelter for 70 people brought from the 401 on convoys of snowmobiles organized by the OPP, 40 of them Montreal high school students travelling by school bus. Dozens more stranded motorists and truckers were put up at motels and in private homes.
Every hotel room in Cornwall was taken by stranded truckers and motorists
It took five days of digging out for the city and district to return to normal, as normal as things could be after one of the worst blizzards to hit the region in memory. Several rural schools were closed for seven days.
Heavy-duty tow trucks were brought in from other parts of Eastern Ontario to assist in the massive Highway 401 clean-up.
With plows of limited use in the city snow-clearing operations, seven bulldozers were employed for two days to lead the way in the largest snow-clearing operation in Cornwall’s history.
Even before the storm hit, the city had blown through its $170,000 snow-removal budget for the year. The storm clean-up was expected to add another $50,000 to the budget deficit.
The other big event? Cornwall and area residents woke up to the news that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had secretly married Margaret Sinclair in Vancouver. He was 52. She was 23. John Diefenbaker quipped, “He had a choice: Adopt her, or marry her.”
ALSO IN 1971 – Four female residents – one an 18-year-old student – of a Fourth Street West rooming house died in an early morning fire. Because a shift change was being made at the fire station less than a block away, 20 firefighters answered the call. Three residents managed to escape and a fourth was not home…Bell Canada said it installed 544 telephones (landlines) in the city and region during 1970, bringing the total to 22,272…Entwistle Construction was awarded a $1.25 million contract to build the Justice Building next to the old police station. The plan called for the police to occupy the basement and first floor, with the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Valley Board of Health on the second floor and the provincial court on the fourth floor. The third floor would be rented…A Cornwall Tourist and Convention proposal to change the name of Brookdale Avenue to Cornwall Drive was shot down by council after complaints from businesses and residents on the street…For the second straight year, ex-Royal Bill Snelgrove was named St. Lawrence College Roadrunners most valuable player…Glen Rasmussen and Paul Fitzpatrick scored as Cornwall Minor Hockey Association tied Norwood, Mass. 2-2 in an exhibition midget game…A confidential report secured by the local media said the city had turned down an offer from the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority to take possession of an 80-acre parcel of surplus canal land for $1. The property ran from Brookdale Avenue to Cornwall Harbour. The city countered with a request that the authority pay for filling in the canal and lower the north and south canal bank to the level of Water Street. Big complaint from the city was that it would lose an annual $75,000 grant in lieu of taxes and have to spend $2.5 million to fill in the canal and bury power lines…The Jade Gardens restaurant celebrated its 22nd anniversary…Detroit was living up to its title of “Murder City U.S.A.” with 132 murders in the first 63 days of the year. Police estimated there were 500,000 handguns in the city, most of them illegal and in the hands of gang members.
THIS AND THAT Talk about optimism. Was walking out of the curling club with a friend. “You know,” he said, “I just turned 80 and if I have 10 years left on life’s odometer, I want to make ’em the best 10 years of my life.” … Bold prediction: Either the Crank or the Wimp will run for council…Just as bad as keyboard warriors who post garbage on social media are people who re-post the garbage…The speech Prime Minister Mark Carney made at the World Economic Conference in Davos goes in the books as one of the best by a leader of the Great White North and boosted Liberal poll numbers. Story is he wrote it on the flight to Switzerland…Justin Trudeau was the gift that kept on giving to Double P and the Conservatives. Carney has changed the game plan….Amazing to see a retired city employee slamming city administration (and council) on social media. This was an employee who years ago quit a job with the city but when things didn’t work out at the new gig in central Ontario, got the old city job back with no loss of seniority.
SPORTS CLIP Gary Monahan is a piece of National Hockey League history. In 1963 he became the first player selected in the first ever NHL amateur draft. He was taken by Les Canadiens. In three seasons with Peterborough Petes, he scored a total of 48 goals. Second player selected was Pete Mahovlich, by Detroit Red Wings. Three years later Mahovlich – brother of Frank – was with Montreal and Monahan was wearing a Detroit uniform.
TRIVIA What do the five Olympic rings represent?
TRIVIA ANSWER Titana Ovechkin, mother of superstar Alex Ovechkin, was a famous Russian basketball player who played on Olympic gold medal teams in 1976 and 1980. His father, Michail, played professional soccer.
QUOTED If cigarette taxes are meant to discourage smoking, wouldn’t income taxes discourage working? – George Carlin
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