By Angela Marshall
Rockville Centre School District administrators decided early on that if they opened in the morning, they would stay open all day. With so many parents working in New York City, officials felt there would be too much confusion if the students were released early.
The village was also determined to go ahead with tree lighting plans that night. By the 7:30 p.m. start, the snow had stopped falling. Instead of driving a movable stage onto the Village Green, officials closed a block of Maple Avenue. With plenty of hot chocolate on hand from Busco's Deli, a smaller than normal crowd greeted Santa Claus and watched the traditional lighting.
Following the ceremony, dozens of children took to the snow-covered green and engaged in several small snowball fights while parents stood by talking.
Many were willing to share some of their favorite memories of snow. Judy Quinn said she and her husband love to break out their cross country skis and make trails through the golf course at the Rockville Links.
Lorriane Buell shared the time she put a big container of hot chocolate out on her front porch. She said every kid in the neighborhood must have stopped by her house that day. That was a fun day, she said, recalling the happy children congregating at her house during breaks in their snow play.
Rob Siegel couldn't think of a favorite snow memory, saying he's lived in the village for about 17 years and that last week's snowfall was one of the biggest he can recall.
If the village does receive more snow, officials say the Rockville Centre Department of Public Works is ready to handle it.
The department recently lost many seasoned veterans to retirement, so this was the first major storm for many of our workers and they did an excellent job, said Harry Weed, superintendent of public works.
Village roads were salted both before and after plowing with five trucks equipped as spreaders. There were 20 trucks and payloaders used Thursday. About 180 tons of salt was used. That leaves 620 tons of the village's 800-ton supply for the rest of the winter.
The Public Works Department did an exceptional job during last week's snow storm, said Mayor Eugene Murray. The roads stayed in very good condition all day despite nearly seven inches of snow and Maple Avenue was cleared out so that our residents were still able to enjoy the annual Christmas tree lighting that night.
