Cold snap, whipping winds hit region
By Erik Pekar
Snapshots of the recent "big chill": chilly days and chilly nights … people readying their supplies … cars parked "hood out" to facilitate easy jumping of car batteries should they malfunction from the cold … winds whipping through with no end in sight … houses and porches making "snapping" or "crackling" noises … the thermometer reading about negative 20 degrees in this vicinity overnight Friday into Saturday … businesses opening later on Saturday to give employees and customers alike time to warm up … from about 3 p.m. on Friday to 1 p.m. on Saturday, the thermometer reading did not rise above zero … people checking and refilling tires, which had reduced pressure due to the extreme cold … quiet streets overnight and into morning due to many people staying in from the cold … the dying down of wind Saturday afternoon bringing an end to the horrid wind chills … the gradual warmup over Saturday and Sunday.
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The cold snap that came through a couple of weekends ago sure worried a lot of people, with concerns of cars not starting, houses being too cold, and other situations. Some did worry, but others took it as it happened, knowing that in prior years these cold waves would come along for a week, or even a month. The temperatures had varied somewhat in late January, but not to this extent. In fact, on the first two days of February, the temps were near 30.
After Feb. 2, they fell overnight, and would not recover for a few days. On the morning of Friday, Feb. 3, it was 7 degrees at the daybreak about 7:15 a.m., and that was the warmest it would get. By noon, it was 5; by 3 p.m., it was one degree, and by 5 p.m., it was zero. The winds, and accompanying wind chill, picked up by noon. Within a couple hours, it had gone below zero.
Overnight, the temperatures continued their slow descent. By 6 a.m. on Saturday, it was -19 degrees. But this was the end of the fall. Over Saturday, the temperatures began to slowly climb back up from the low. By noon, it was back to 0. Over the afternoon, it slowly rose, stalled at around 2 degrees for a few hours, before rising to 10 degrees by the end of Saturday. Over Sunday, the temperature climbed back up out of the dip. It reached 20 around 11 a.m., and 30 by 5 p.m. The cold snap had finally come to an end; over the next several days (last week), the temps reached into the 40s for a few days.
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As the days rolled by in January, the question was on the minds of some of what television station would mention Granville in a news story first. There was also the question of whether the story topic would be human interest, developments, retrospectives, anniversaries of event, or crime.
That distinction would go to WTEN, and its news SUV was seen around town the day of Jan. 18. A few establishing video shots were taken at the corner of West Main and Glen Streets, and they were also sighted in the salon near the intersection, and just east of Granville near Loomis Trucking in the town of Pawlet, Vermont.
The news story aired on the afternoon news block the same day. It turned out that Granville made it onto television news for something roughly involving the last two aforementioned topics. It concerned the mysterious and still unresolved disappearance of Jonathan Schaff on Jan. 18, 2014, nine years ago.
As is common practice, James De La Fuente, the reporter for this news story, interviewed a local to get the sense of community feeling about this unfortunate situation. There, De La Fuente found his interviewee: Payton Barlow, co-owner of Scarlotta’s Car Hop. Barlow, like others in this town, felt the disappearance was "strange" and added that his fate is still speculated and he is still talked about today.
If anyone has any information that could lead to the closing of this unfortunate case, they are encouraged to contact the Granville Police Department or the Vermont State Police.
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Over the month of January, Christmas decorations were taken down from the houses, lawns, and businesses of this vicinity. This also included the village of Granville, where the lights at Veterans Memorial Park were turned off on Jan. 16. The Granville village DPW began removing decorations on Jan. 11. On Main Street, the Christmas trees, garland, and wreaths were removed on Jan. 12. The decorative building outline lights on the Main Street buildings were also turned off at this time. The rest of the decorations around the village were removed by Jan. 21. Decorations are now stored away until the next Christmas holiday season.
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Last month, over the week of Jan. 12, Verizon moved its telephone utility lines on Church Street to cross the Mettowee River on the utility poles put up last year. The old "detour" wires and poles near the rail trail bridge were taken down. The process was completed Jan. 17. The right of way restoration is the other "bookend" to the Church Street bridge replacement project, as right of way clearance was the first stage of the project back in winter of 2021. The new bridge looks great, and its styling will impress those who come through Granville on Church Street.
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Last month, two Granville area residents passed away, both of whom made a positive impact in the Granville community, in one way or another.
Elizabeth "Jessie" Roberts served the Granville community by helping others, namely in her more than 60 year long career in nursing, where she worked such places as the Emma Laing Stevens Hospital and Mary McClellan Hospital (both defunct), Indian River Nursing Home (now Granville Center) and lastly the Orchard in North Granville (now Slate Valley Center). She was also involved with the Poultney Area St. David’s Society. Her husband Richard T. Roberts Jr. was co-owner of Dick’s Place on Main Street in late 1940s and 1950s; the storefront is presently occupied by Maggie’s Hair Salon.
Phil Webster Sr. was involved in community functions in Granville for many years, including the Granville Masons and the Boy Scouts. Webster, along with his wife Susan, owned Bernardo’s Restaurant for a few years in the late 1970s.
Both did well to better Granville in some way, whether in business or in community involvement, and they both will be missed.
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Another change has happened that shines a spotlight on time’s march forward, and the replacement of old technology with new, as the payphone in the Granville Stewart’s convenience store was removed last month.
Stewart’s Shops announced in late 2022 that they would be removing any remaining pay phones from their stores and replacing them with phones for the associates. Until this time, any store that had a payphone, including the Granville Stewart’s, used the number as their sole phone number. The removal would be "clean", as the wall would be repaired to look as if the phone had never been there.
With its removal, Granville no longer has any working payphones. About 50 to 60 years ago there were several in the area, including: two on Main Street in the village, at the old village hall and in front of the A&P (now the auto parts store); in Middle Granville at Chapman’s; in Wells at the business variously known as the Lewis ice cream bar or Bruno’s (now the Wells Country Store). The payphone outside of Chapman’s is still present but has not been known to work for some years.
The removal of payphones, a process which has been going on for over a decade, is a result of the growth of use of cell phones and smartphones. The use of the mobile phones has permeated the population to such an extent for long enough now that the telephone companies deemed the payphones obsolete.
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