Dr. Allen Murphy and student Bud Hinkle are shown in front of Science Hall during a January 1961 snowfall. Dr. Murphy was a geology professor and advisor for Phi Kappa Omega fraternity. Photo courtesy of Dinah Courrier, from her 2001 book "Potomac State College," part of the College History Series published by Tempus Publishing Inc.
Remember what having a snow day used to mean?
That early morning radio announcement every kid eagerly anticipated, waiting for one specific school to be called, to revel in the joy and freedom of a snow day.
On college campuses, when a rare snow day is called, students often harken back to those youthful pleasures. What to do when the campus is held hostage by Mother Nature? Make the most of it, of course.
The WVU Potomac State College Alumni Association asked former students to weigh in on how snow days were spent here in the “good ol’ days” – when everyone walked uphill, both ways. And the responses were as enlightening as they were entertaining – from snowball fights in the Quad to repurposing cafeteria equipment in ingenious ways.
Photo from the 1964 Catamount Yearbook/ courtesy of the WVU Potomac State College Mary L. Shipper Library archives.
“I remember people taking cafeteria trays to sled down the hill by Reynolds Hall,” recalled Jennifer Fink. “Also, just staying in the main lounge at Reynolds watching TV and sitting on the front patio, watching it snow.”
Dinah Courrier remembers something similar: “Happily riding cafeteria trays behind the library until Horse Lough put an end to our fun."
“I, too am guilty of appropriating cafeteria trays and gliding down the hill behind Reynolds Hall,” admitted Al Lynch II. “It was the winter of ‘73 - big fun and great memories - always thought we might ramp over the street and into the hospital!”
Richard J. Jenkins, ‘94, offered that he and his friends had bigger plans when they took in the snow on campus. “I have fond memories of snowball fights on the Quad and sled riding on the big hill behind the library,” he said. “We used an old car hood (as a sled) from the local scrap yard.”
Diane Glass Lambert, ‘74, recalled that when no trays or scrap yard hoods were available, students would often simply use – well, each other. “Behind the library, a bunch of students would leap into a pile and slide down the snow-covered hill. One time, the pile was so big and heavy that it went down fast and almost crashed into the wall. The guy up front had a frightened look on his face. The pile stopped at the wall, which dropped off about 20 feet. But the good news is that the hospital was right across the street and no one was hurt.”
Julie Ford Kerico, ‘82, has memories that are a bit cheesy: “Snow ice cream. Snowman building behind Friends Hall. And walking down to Fox’s Pizza and then settling for Chef Boyardee boxed pizza when Fox’s was closed.”
Photo from the 1964 Catamount Yearbook/ courtesy of the WVU Potomac State College Mary L. Shipper Library archives.
John Wilkinson remembers an “unexpectedly deep snow” and building snow forts and having snowball battles on the Quad. “We called around and spread the word that no one should head to the cafeteria until classes were cancelled for the day.”
And then there was the Blizzard of 1983. Norman Ahern recalled that “at that time, Potomac State was a suitcase campus with the majority of the dorm students leaving Friday after class, but the timing of this blizzard coming in on Thursday evening kept most everyone on campus for the weekend. There were snowball fights on the Quad and people using cafeteria trays to slide down the hill. By the time the snow ended, a couple of students were entrepreneurial, making money pulling people out of the snow. Each had a large vehicle with big tires, and I remember one of them getting hung up, needing the other to pull them out of the snowbank.
Tiffany Orlando says her memories included preparing for the remnants of a hurricane – a hurricane that brought snow. “Hurricane Sandy, October 2012, everyone thought it was going to be a rainstorm. They even put sandbags at the doors of the dorms to keep the water out,” she said. “But when the storm hit, it dumped snow instead of rain. I don’t remember exactly how much we got, but it was enough for a massive snowball fight on the Quad.”
Nikki Richardson offered a recollection from 2015: “Definitely some sledding and snowball fights and snowman building. We didn’t have any sleds, but we used my best friend’s big bags to sled with,, along with a plastic tote that broke. I remember one year down at Catamount, we got like two feet or more of snow. We had to dig our way into our cars to start them up for a few minutes.”
But the granddaddy of all memories arguably is the Winter of 1977 – one of the coldest and snowiest on record. Sue Bostic reflected that, “In January 1977, we returned from Christmas break only to find out Spring Break had been changed. We had Spring Break the next week, due to the winter storm. It was the first year for women’s basketball, and our season was adjusted. When we did resume games, traveling to some was a challenge with the road conditions. That winter, we did not see the ground until March.”
Larry Gray recalls that same time with much clarity – even 49 years later. “My roommate Larry Hamilton and I returned by bus from Christmas break to find that the college was closed. We couldn’t get another bus back home until the next day, so we spent a chilly night in our room in an unheated Davis Hall,” he remembered. “In the morning, we caught a ride to the Greyhound station in Tim Smith’s MG Midget. That was three guys and two sets of baggage in a two -seat sports car that we could probably have picked up and set on the sidewalk if we’d wanted to.”
Gray paints a wintry picture of the bus ride home as well. “We were headed into Washington, DC. The trip in good weather usually took something like five hours. That day, however, the bus was traveling much slower because of the conditions. Moreover, the tire chains that the bus had been fitted with flew off with a loud thump somewhere between Romney and Winchester. The final straw came near Tysons Corner, just outside of DC, when the bus’s electrical system blew out. The bus could still move, but without lights. We had to wait until someone from Greyhound came to us to escort us to the station. All told, that trip took over 12 hours.”
What is your best campus snow story? We would love to hear about it. Drop us a line. Or throw a snowball our way.
Just leave the cafeteria trays in the cafeteria.