Thirty years since the Blizzard of '78
By Caitlyn Kelleher and Jason Lefferts

Bob Brogan points to the antenna of car buried in the snow on Lovell Street in Westminster with his sons, Todd and Shane, and daughter, Sue, looking on. COURTESY PHOTO

Coming off a major snowstorm just a few weeks before that dropped close to 20 inches on the area, the forecast for the first week of February didn't seem so bad.

According to an Associated Press story in the Sentinel and Enterprise on Feb. 6, 1978, "forecasters said it could throw down more than a half-foot of snow."

They were right, sort of. The storm stalled after converging with two other weather systems, and it certainly did throw down more than a half-foot of snow.

For some the memories are of the cooking hot dogs over the fire inside the house, for others it memories of scary drives to work, flying helicopters over the city of Boston, and for some it is a lifesaving miracle in Boston after a five hour ambulance ride.

Ashburnham and Westminster residents join many in the Northeast of memories of the Blizzard of '78, which began on Feb. 6.

"The memory of that storm will always be with us," Jessica Leger, of Westminster, said.

In the end, by most estimates, the Blizzard of 1978 threw down about two feet of snow, but it's tough to say how much exactly, because winds of 50 mph or more made it tough to keep track.

This much, however, was true then, and stays true now. It was a monster storm against which all others will be measured. It was a storm that shut down highways, crippled cities, and tapped into the human spirit.

The Legers

Westminster resident Lucus Leger was 14 months old and suffering from bronchitis. His parents, Jessica and Don Leger, had decided to go home and out of the storm on that February day.

"When my son woke up, he whimpered, laying stiff in his crib," Jessica recalled. "I called his doctor, the wonderful, late Dr. Francisco Rubira, who insisted I rush him to his office. We borrowed a four-wheel drive truck from my sister, Sandy, and drove to his office in Fitchburg from our house in Westminster."

The foursome then went from Rubira's office in to Burbank Hospital before Rubira determined that Lucus need the care of the medical teams at Children's Hospital.

Lucus had bacterial meningitis.

"We waited four long hours for a special ambulance to arrive, which then took five hours to reach Boston," Leger recalled. "The ambulance could not keep up with the freezing snow so it stopped every few miles where my husband Don had to clear its windshield so we could follow."

The doctors apparently hadn't expected to Lucus to survive the trip to the hospital, but once they arrived the doctors inserted a shunt in his head and the couple begin the wait for their son's health to improve and the snow to disappear.

On top of the medical scare, the couple dealt with the affects of the ongoing blizzard at the hospital. Jessica said there were long cafeteria lines and people sleeping on the floors in the hallway.

"We were told we were grounded at the hospital where we stayed for 10 days with no money or clothes," Jessica recalled.

In the days that followed Lucus' health improved and the snow began to melt.

"(When he was released) my son had his head shaved for IV's and weighed only 12 pounds when he left the hospital with double ear infections, but we will always be grateful for Dr. Rubira's prompt diagnosis and Boston Children's Hospitals' great support in those dark days."

Lucas, who is now 30, owns his own construction company, Leger Construction and Working, in Westminster. He is married to Nadine and they have a 2-year-old daughter, Elexis, and a son, Nolan, who is expected to be born this month.

Vaillancourt

Jules Vaillancourt, of Ashburnham, was also in Boston after the Blizzard.

He recalls, "The night before the '78 Blizzard, I was listening to a weather report by one of the Boston TV weatherman. The last comment at end his statement was 'you can put your snow shovels away, you won't need them.' I never saw him on that station again. I'm glad I listened to another TV station that night also."

Early in the day on Tuesday with chains on the wheels of his little sports car with rear wheel drive, Valliancourt made it up the steep hill to the AT&T Communications tower in Ashburnham.

"I was the first one there, and my boss was surprised to see that I had made it up the hill before he arrived," Valliancourt said. "He had a big Chevy Blazer with fourwheel drive.

As the other employees slowly trickled in, we discussed the report issued by the governor, which was only essential personnel to be allowed on all roads, I found out that I had to go to one of our other communications towers in western Massachusetts."

The tower was on a hill in Wendell, about 30 miles from Ashburnham and near Orange.

"It was an eerie feeling not seeing any traffic accept an occasional snow plow and state police cruiser," he said. "Like a different world. While driving slowly down the highway with wipers, headlights, blower, rear window defrost and other equipment operating, about 10 miles from our destination, our vehicle suddenly stalled. Tried restarting but the battery was dead. I suggested turning off all switches, waiting a few minutes to let the battery recover, and that worked. The car restarted, and ran smoothly. "

On his way home from work that evening, Valliancourt received a call from his commanding officer in the National Guard, ordering the 1059 Medical Detachment at Westover AFB Helicopter Sq. for active duty.

"I went home, picked up my military gear, said goodbye to my family and headed for the base," he said. "The following week we transported medical supplies to hospitals in the Boston area by our helicopters, with some of the pilots stating it was a strange feeling flying between the Boston skyscrapers after the fields of Vietnam."

Others such as Ashburnham Postmaster Rich Goguen said he made it to work on the 3-11 shift in Westminster's Post Office.

"My boss said 'what are you doing here? The National Guard has been called in to help with the snow,'" he said. "I then drove all the way back to Ashburnham, got changed and reported to Gardner for duty. The guard shoveled out fire hydrants and elderly locations throughout the city all through the night."

Goguen said all that was visible were mounds of snow, which covered the cars. He said he could not enter his driveway for a long while.

"Truly the worse storm I ever experienced," Goguen said.

LeeAnn Brogan Gikis, of Westminster, who was 20 during the storm, spent a quiet week at home on Lovell Street with her parents and siblings.

"I can remember being stuck in the house for days," she said. "We didn't live too far from Main Street at the time. It was days before we were plowed out. We cooked hot dogs in the fireplace."