NW Shovels Out from Record Snowfall The snow brought down many limbs and some trees as well, including this one on Cresheim Road that narrowly missing a parked car and snarled traffic there for hours. Cars disappeared on every block, making it an understandable impulse for many to mark the space that they’d put so much labor into clearing, such as this spot on Tulpehocken Street. The practice is illegal, according to the Philadelphia Police Department, though no reports of any citations had been received at the newspaper as of press time Tuesday. Photo #2 by Jonna Naylor; photo #3 by Kittura Dior. Photo #4, for Philadelphia School teacher Jimmy Mance (far left) the phrase “snow day” had a literal meaning. Like his neighbors on McCallum Street in Germantown he spent hours shoveling out his car and around his home. (Above center. Photo #5. At the Thomas Mansion on Wissahickon Avenue Wadeea Owens (left), Zoe Owens and Allen Spearman joined a large crowd of snow enthusiasts for some timeless fun. Photo # 6. Aaron Covington, 19, awoke early for each storm and made sure the walks of his nearby seniors and single residents were clear – he refused all payment. The snow brought out the creativity in many Northwest residents. Photo #7. The 6100 block of Daniel Street knew exactly what to do with all this snow. After doing a little Internet research this crew built an igloo. The construction team is, from left (outdoors) Ela Somers,11, Brian Goodell, 7, Sarah Somers, 8, Allison Goodell, 7, Judah Weekes, 7, and Rory Erlich ,8. Inside the igloo, from left, Samuel Ozer, 7, Isaiah Weekes, 5, and Jonas Lezzi, 7. Photo #8. Simon Dicker of Mt. Airy didn’t want to make a snowman so he made a snow Loch Ness Monster. By PATRICK COBBS Staff Writer It came in waves. First light and fluffy, then wet and heavy. And when it was over we had a thicker blanket of snow than at any time since the infamous blizzard of 1996: from 24 to 30 inches - depending on who you talk to - plus the dusting from this Monday and Tuesday’s squall. “Global warming is all fun and games until the glacier shows up on your front doorstep,” said Mt. Airy resident Carol Weis of the snow as she helped her neighbors clear off the unit block of Mt. Airy Avenue Thursday February 11. Local residents went back and forth about which was worse – the Blizzard of ’96 or the Dump of 2010. The differences they said: in 1996, 30 inches came all at once and brought everything to a halt, but it was over quickly. Over the last week we got some time to breathe but that made it seem more drawn-out to some. Whichever season wins the ice crown, one thing was certain. In a city that tends to get overly territorial when the snow shovels come out - about things like parking spaces and snow pile placement – the recent storms brought out the best in some people. If you took a stroll – or snowshoe – down Weis’ block on Thursday, or the 200 block of West Haines Street in Germantown, or any number of close-knit streets across the Northwest, you would have seen snow-bound residents coming together to dig each other out. It was like an unending string of block parties – minus the sprinklers and bar-b-ques. Weis’ neighbor, 84-year old Betty Trout was there to help tow the load on Mt. Airy Avenue as she does with every storm, and only a few houses down 19 year old Aaron Covington was up at dawn shoveling the homes of neighbors who could use a little help - and refusing to take money for it. It’s something he also does with every storm. “I just was taught to help people,” he said. “I usually try to just run out before they pay me.” And then there was the mystery snow-blower of McCallum Street in Germantown. According to Marty Hebert of the 6100 block of that street, someone cleared off both sides of the entire block during at least one of the storms, and probably did most of nearby Tulpehocken Street too. “I’d like to know who it is,” Hebert said. “To thank him or pay him. That’s quite a gesture.” And then there are the kids. Like Ruby, Mira and Grace Kauffman-Rosengarden in Mt. Airy who made the best of the sticky second storm and created a snow diorama for all to see: a snow-tricyclist, a snow-picnicker and the timeless (and big) “snow man.” Or the kids along the 6100 block of Daniel Street in Germantown, who not only made snowmen, but transformed those pesky plow berms into a network of tunnels, and recruited the entire neighborhood, adults and all, to first do Internet research on, and then to construct a functioning igloo. “First you dig like a big pit,” described seven-year old Samuel Ozer, the project originator. “And then you put the snow on the side of the pit, and then you just find blocks.” The six-foot igloo has a kid sized tunnel entrance, a roof and a south facing glass window. “We were going to make our own address,” said Judah Weekes, also 7. The white stuff brought out the kid in area adults too. Take Simon Dicker, who made a snow serpent from what he cleared off the sidewalk of the unit block of Mt. Airy Avenue. Or Alan Margolies a few houses down, who built a luge track that runs from his back yard all the way to that same sidewalk. “We started out making a little pile for my niece,” Margolies said. “And then when the second snow came we kept going higher and higher.” And of course there was Tommy’s Hill. More than ever, the latest storms transformed the steep slope beside the 19th century Thomas Mansion on Wissahickon Avenue into the most happening hill in town. So, on the days that news reports called the city crippled, residents of all ages crowded the hillside to snowboard, tube, toboggan or sled the slope in true Olympic fashion - complete with homemade moguls and a daring looking jump near the bottom of the hill. Sure, the side roads are still far from clear, and parking on Germantown Avenue is a Grade-A hazard, but for those few days where most had permission to slow down, for many in the Northwest it was easy to see a silver lining in these snow clouds.

NW Shovels Out from Record Snowfall

The snow brought down many limbs and some trees as well, including this one on Cresheim Road that narrowly missing a parked car and snarled traffic there for hours.

Cars disappeared on every block, making it an understandable impulse for many to mark the space that they’d put so much labor into clearing, such as this spot on Tulpehocken Street. The practice is illegal, according to the Philadelphia Police Department, though no reports of any citations had been received at the newspaper as of press time Tuesday. Photo #2 by Jonna Naylor; photo #3 by Kittura Dior.

Photo #4, for Philadelphia School teacher Jimmy Mance (far left) the phrase “snow day” had a literal meaning. Like his neighbors on McCallum Street in Germantown he spent hours shoveling out his car and around his home. (Above center.

Photo #5. At the Thomas Mansion on Wissahickon Avenue Wadeea Owens (left), Zoe Owens and Allen Spearman joined a large crowd of snow enthusiasts for some timeless fun.

Photo # 6. Aaron Covington, 19, awoke early for each storm and made sure the walks of his nearby seniors and single residents were clear – he refused all payment.

The snow brought out the creativity in many Northwest residents.

Photo #7. The 6100 block of Daniel Street knew exactly what to do with all this snow. After doing a little Internet research this crew built an igloo. The construction team is, from left (outdoors) Ela Somers,11, Brian Goodell, 7, Sarah Somers, 8, Allison Goodell, 7, Judah Weekes, 7, and Rory Erlich ,8. Inside the igloo, from left, Samuel Ozer, 7, Isaiah Weekes, 5, and Jonas Lezzi, 7.

Photo #8. Simon Dicker of Mt. Airy didn’t want to make a snowman so he made a snow Loch Ness Monster.

By PATRICK COBBS

Staff Writer

It came in waves. First light and fluffy, then wet and heavy. And when it was over we had a thicker blanket of snow than at any time since the infamous blizzard of 1996: from 24 to 30 inches - depending on who you talk to - plus the dusting from this Monday and Tuesday’s squall.

“Global warming is all fun and games until the glacier shows up on your front doorstep,” said Mt. Airy resident Carol Weis of the snow as she helped her neighbors clear off the unit block of Mt. Airy Avenue Thursday February 11.

Local residents went back and forth about which was worse – the Blizzard of ’96 or the Dump of 2010. The differences they said: in 1996, 30 inches came all at once and brought everything to a halt, but it was over quickly. Over the last week we got some time to breathe but that made it seem more drawn-out to some.

Whichever season wins the ice crown, one thing was certain. In a city that tends to get overly territorial when the snow shovels come out - about things like parking spaces and snow pile placement – the recent storms brought out the best in some people.

If you took a stroll – or snowshoe – down Weis’ block on Thursday, or the 200 block of West Haines Street in Germantown, or any number of close-knit streets across the Northwest, you would have seen snow-bound residents coming together to dig each other out. It was like an unending string of block parties – minus the sprinklers and bar-b-ques.

Weis’ neighbor, 84-year old Betty Trout was there to help tow the load on Mt. Airy Avenue as she does with every storm, and only a few houses down 19 year old Aaron Covington was up at dawn shoveling the homes of neighbors who could use a little help - and refusing to take money for it.

It’s something he also does with every storm. “I just was taught to help people,” he said. “I usually try to just run out before they pay me.”

And then there was the mystery snow-blower of McCallum Street in Germantown. According to Marty Hebert of the 6100 block of that street, someone cleared off both sides of the entire block during at least one of the storms, and probably did most of nearby Tulpehocken Street too.

“I’d like to know who it is,” Hebert said. “To thank him or pay him. That’s quite a gesture.”

And then there are the kids. Like Ruby, Mira and Grace Kauffman-Rosengarden in Mt. Airy who made the best of the sticky second storm and created a snow diorama for all to see: a snow-tricyclist, a snow-picnicker and the timeless (and big) “snow man.” Or the kids along the 6100 block of Daniel Street in Germantown, who not only made snowmen, but transformed those pesky plow berms into a network of tunnels, and recruited the entire neighborhood, adults and all, to first do Internet research on, and then to construct a functioning igloo.

“First you dig like a big pit,” described seven-year old Samuel Ozer, the project originator. “And then you put the snow on the side of the pit, and then you just find blocks.”

The six-foot igloo has a kid sized tunnel entrance, a roof and a south facing glass window.

“We were going to make our own address,” said Judah Weekes, also 7.

The white stuff brought out the kid in area adults too. Take Simon Dicker, who made a snow serpent from what he cleared off the sidewalk of the unit block of Mt. Airy Avenue. Or Alan Margolies a few houses down, who built a luge track that runs from his back yard all the way to that same sidewalk.

“We started out making a little pile for my niece,” Margolies said. “And then when the second snow came we kept going higher and higher.”

And of course there was Tommy’s Hill. More than ever, the latest storms transformed the steep slope beside the 19th century Thomas Mansion on Wissahickon Avenue into the most happening hill in town. So, on the days that news reports called the city crippled, residents of all ages crowded the hillside to snowboard, tube, toboggan or sled the slope in true Olympic fashion - complete with homemade moguls and a daring looking jump near the bottom of the hill.

Sure, the side roads are still far from clear, and parking on Germantown Avenue is a Grade-A hazard, but for those few days where most had permission to slow down, for many in the Northwest it was easy to see a silver lining in these snow clouds.

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