By DEBBIE ROSEN
None of my employees were able to come in and my driver couldn't either, Winter said. My employees urged me to go before it was too late, and so I had to close the store for the first time ever. It was a hard decision to make because our pharmacy is like the mail... you know, through rain, sleet and even snow. Winter said the whole ride home he thought about the elderly or anyone who usually calls upon him for a prescription worried they would need his services. But before leaving Oceanside, he called local 24-hour pharmacies to be sure they were open, as well as South Nassau Communities Hospital. A day later, Winter and his staff played catch up and more than doubled the amount of prescriptions normally filled in a day's time, thanking customers for their understanding and loyalty.
Over at Temple Avodah, Kenny Kombert and dad, Irwin, were busy preparing for the temple's annual New Year's Eve celebration. After listening to the forecast days before, the two put a plan into action.
We gave our chef a four-wheel drive business car to take home, so I knew he would be able to get to work and prepare for the party, the younger Knombert said. Then, I put some of our staff up at a local hotel, while I had one person drive around and pick up people in the nearby area. I also made sure I had food delivered a day earlier than usual. The 230-guest party went off without a hitch, not a single guest calling to cancel. Partygoers arrived to a clean parking lot and cleared walkways, where the longtime caterer dumped about 200 pounds of salt and spent days plowing out.
Other Oceansiders had their ups and downs digging out or just digging the blast of winter.
On New Year's Day two Oceanside teens enjoyed winter time fun, cruising around local roadways on a three-wheeled Big Red Honda. We just gassed her up and are ready to roll, Greg Taylor said. Yeah, were going to go back to the house to pull our friends on sleds and snowboards, added Jonathan Kessler, wishing the snow had fallen on a school day.
Debbie Leahy had to change her plans once the storm was forecast, coming in from Connecticut a few days earlier than planned. I had my niece with me for Christmas and I knew she had to go back to school on Tuesday, so we wanted to be sure to get her back home, Leahy said, who was staying at her mom's home in Oceanside. She said the family was well-prepared before a flake even fell from the sky, filling cars up with gas and shopping to have plenty of food in the house just in case the roads stayed bad. As she walked her mom's dog, Petey, along Moore Avenue, she pulled up her hood to brave the cold.
Yet, perhaps the hardest hit was Oceanside's Stacey Feldman. She had to cancel her wedding. Stacey and now husband, Ron Issacman were to be married at the Middle Bay Country Club, the evening of the storm. They decided to cancel, with guests unable to make it. Needless to say, it was an emotional decision. I was a definite mess, said Stacey. I was so upset my dad kept telling everyone to keep sharp objects away from me. You can just imagine it, having to cancel your wedding.
The following morning Feldman did marry the man of her dreams, at a small intimate wedding at the Middle Bay Country Club in Oceanside. With about half her guests on hand, Cantor Jeffrey Forman married the two who met at Penn State University four years ago. The newlyweds began their honeymoon with a New Year's Day trip to Puerto Rico, before embarking a cruise.
With a tough winter ahead predicted by both the Farmer's Almanac and major news networks, Oceansiders geared up for the first winter storm, arming themselves with weaponry to help keep the snow at bay.
Over at Silvia Stiehler's Power Equipment on Lawson Boulevard in Oceanside, business was booming. The store sold out of its snow blowers by Tuesday, Jan. 2. Compared to last year, three times the amount of snow blowers have been sold, 90 in all. Silvia's also sold more than 1,000 pounds of salt and just over 70 snow shovels. With almost one hundred snow blowers in her yard waiting to be repaired, Stiehler said residents tend to wait until the last minute, before getting in gear for winter. We're the last ones people think of until snow is predicted, she said. Some even wait until the snow is already on the ground.
