February, 17, 1940
Ithaca, New York
Dear Folks,
Well I guess you must have been pretty well snowbound, as well as we were. It didn't do Farm and Home Week any good but the high school boys from around the state who were visiting here go a real kick out of being marooned for a couple days.
Mrs. Roosevelt and Governor Lehman drove in from Syracuse by car on the afternoon of the blizzard. She arrived after the Chamber of Commerce had announced that all roads leading from Ithaca were blocked, and it took her five hours to come the 60 miles from Syracuse.
I did a lot of shoveling here, but you must have had an awful job getting shoveled out, and I was sorry I couldn't have been there to help you. The trains haven't been able to make it up here from New York City for three days. I saw some pictures of cars in the Syracuse paper today that had been completely buried in the snow by 12 foot drifts, and the ones down here were pretty well buried too.
Did the snow plow get the road plowed out going up the hill? Having the whole road widened ought to have helped a lot. If you get any more real cold weather, you ought to leave the water running in the house overnight to avoid it freezing. The ditch by the silo may be down deep enough so that it let the pipe freeze there.
I hope that Katie didn't have too much trouble with her car. Everyone is hoping that the snow doesn't melt too fast, because if it does, downtown Ithaca will probably have to get out their row boats. I hope everyone is fine, and that things are running okay.
Lovingly, Hall
Gilbert Hall Flint was born August 14, 1918 and raised on Flint Hill Farm in Amenia, New York. His formal education began in a one-room schoolhouse in Smithfield. He graduated from Amenia High School in 1936 and from the Cornell University College of Agriculture in 1940. He taught high school agriculture from 1940 to 1944, served in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946, taught high school agriculture from 1946 to 1963, and finished his career as a school principal from 1963 to 1975.
Gilbert Hall Flint passed away on December 16, 2009. The letters are published in his memory. To view the letters in chronological order, please click a timeline label from the side bar menu, scroll to the bottom, and read up.
Gilbert Hall Flint passed away on December 16, 2009. The letters are published in his memory. To view the letters in chronological order, please click a timeline label from the side bar menu, scroll to the bottom, and read up.
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