The Great Winter Of 1978 | On
Jan 19, 1978, the biggest snow to ever hit the state closed down the
entire East Coast. We called it "The Great Winter Of 78". As I left my hill, the car's front end was actually off the ground
and I was steering the car like a boat. You see, I had a VW Beetle,
which had a flat pan under the car, rear engine drive, and could go
almost anywhere. I
was the ONLY vehicle on the road early that morning. The interstate had
completely closed, so I fought my way into town on Rt 21. I
pulled up to the newspaper, and parked right in the middle of Virginia
Street because there was no traffic, and no way to park near the
curb due to the snow. The Editor asked me if I could make it up
airport hill..... oh great. |
 It
seems that the Daily Mail "ShowPlane" crowd was stuck at Kanawha
Airport. But how did they get there? After all, the airport
had shut down the night before. Here's the story:
Turns
out they couldnt make it to Charleston due to the storm, and had to
land in Pittsburgh, They were placed on buses ans were on their way
home. However, due to stupid regulations, they weren't allowed to
get off downtown. So the buses attempted to climb airport hill in
the snowstorm. They got just over halfway up and became stuck.
Sometime in the early morning, with no food or water on the
buses, the people got out in the dark snowstorm and walked up the hill.
They arrived at the terminal only to find it closed and locked.
A guard or janitor let them in. Once again, there was no
food or drink other than water. These people called every person
they knew to open the restaurant or get them off the hill, but
that didnt happen because everyone was stuck just like they were.....
|
 
| My
mission was to drive to the airport and take photos. I somehow
managed to get over Green brier Street hill, but I knew that as
had as that was.... the worst was up ahead. I started up airport
hill, giving my little Beetle all she had. I barely made it past
the first bus because it had slid sideways, which placed me very close
to the ditch,. Not that it mattered, because the ditch was full of snow
and I had to guess where it was anyway. I struggled to get my
speed back up, all the while spinning and barely moving. But what
I saw ahead told me that I might end my mission right there:, for you
see the second bus was turned even sharper than the first..... |
| As
I got closer in the dim light, I could see that the second bus
had turned almost sideways, but had done so right at the "General
Aviation" road. That meant that even though I didnt have enough
momentum to continue up the hill, I could back-up the General
Aviation road as far as possible, then sling-shot down it and hopefully
clear that last bus. This is exactly what happened. I
spun right on up that hill and finally made it to the terminal.
I went inside where people started crowding around me. They
told me what had happened and were tired, hungry, and wanted coffee in
the worst way. Some wanted to come off the hill with me, but I
told them that I had only one seat available in my little car but I
would be glad to take one person. In a show of solidarity, they
all decided to stick it out together and stay. As I was
going off the hill, I saw a farm tractor pulling one of the
buses up the hill. All of that because the bus drivers werent
allowed to let the passengers off downtown. |
*Notice the Diamont Dept Store in the background*
NO ONE KNEW IT AT THE TIME, BUT FRANKENBERGERS WAS RIGHT ON THE MONEY ! 
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