Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Snow Almost Deters Holiday

Snow.

White, pristine, pastoral. Beautiful in many respects.

A delight to children of all ages.

However, snow, no matter how much some people like it, it can be a headache.

Wednesday night's snow in the Gurdon area caused the schools to be closed, but also posed problems for the two local florists.

Gurdon public schools had set Friday, Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day) aside as a winter day, which meant the florists would be delivering the Valentine's Day gifts to students on Thursday.

Except for one little thing -- school was cancelled and the florists, Billy's Main Street Florist and The Forget Me Knot Shop, still had orders to be filled.

After all, Valentine's Day waits for no man.

While this caused some initial panic, especially for Billy Wells, Thursday actually went fairly well for the florists.

Those who had placed orders for balloons either asked the florist shops to deliver them to the recipient's home or came by and made the delivery themselves. In some cases, the customers said it would be all right if the orders were delivered to the schools on Tuesday, when classes resumed.

Annette White, with The Forget Me Knot Shop, said everything was taken care of with them making deliveries door to door, or people coming in and picking their orders up.

"It would have been easier," she said, "to make the deliveries to the school."

Elizabeth Wilson, who was helping at Wells' Main Street Florist Thursday, said she was surprised when she got up and saw snow on the ground.

She said one of the nicest things she had been told by a customer was not to put herself in harm's way in making a delivery.

Wilson said there were some benefits to students being able to make deliveries to their significant others. "They get to be there when they're delivered," she said of the gifts.

This could have been extra special for the giver as the recipient's thanks could be given immediately, up close and personally.

There was no problem with deliveries scheduled for Gurdon Primary School. Wilson said they would have Day party Tuesday and the balloons could be delivered then.

In spite of the snow, Wilson said the weather for Valentine's Day 1997 was better than last year. Cupid's favorite day in 1996 saw inclement weather in the form of heavy rainstorms.

Wells said he worked until 10:30 p.m. Wednesday getting orders ready, because he knew there would be no school Friday.

"I thought we'd deliver them Thursday to work or school," he said, "but I was surprised Thursday morning when I got up and saw the snow and heard school was out. but it all worked out well."

By and large, the snow-covered streets may have made this Valentine's Day even more special to many people who would not ordinarily have been able to share the day together.