LEWISTON — For the most part, Lewiston and Auburn’s first significant snowfall played out well for most people.
“Very happy,” Alex Garry of Auburn said of the season’s first “snow day.” Garry is a mental health counselor for Spurwink. “Three-day weekend,” she said. What’s not to love?
Instead of going to work, Garry spent the day with her 11-year-old son, Caden, sledding, playing in the snow and shoveling the driveway.
Alexis Mailhot finished her homework Sunday to guarantee she had a “snow day” Monday. “My teachers tell me that if I don’t do my homework, we will not have a snow day,” said the eighth-grader at Auburn Middle School.
“I happen to have the day off, anyway, so it worked out well,” said Mailhot’s stepfather, Erik Noll, who brought his daughter to the Sherwood Heights Elementary School sledding hill.
Mailhot’s classmate Caleb Davis wore his pajamas inside out, put a spoon under his pillow and an ice cube in the toilet before going to bed Sunday to increase the odds of school being canceled.
The family tradition payed off.
But not everyone was thrilled about the snow that began to fall late Sunday night.
“I’m kind’ve bummed out about it,” said Seth Labobe of Lewiston. “I was supposed to finish up a roofing job and get paid today.”
Labobe’s fiancee, Tabitha Patriquin, made do despite a slew of weather-related problems. “I have two bald tires, got stuck this morning and had to jump-start someone today,” said Patriquin as snow melted down her neck following an unexpected snowball from Labobe.
Patriquin was hoping her luck would change at 2 p.m., when she picked up her car with two new snow tires from Grimmel’s Full Service & Auto Repair.
Jim Grimmel said he received 200 phone calls from customers asking about snow tires Monday.
“People play a guessing game,” Grimmel said. “They gamble if we are going to get any snow or not. If you live in Maine, it would be a miracle to not get snow and Mother Nature does not create miracles.”
He added, “Every year is the same old story. I have been doing this for 60 years, so I am used to it.”
Snowfall totals (inches)
* Kingfield: 8.5
* Lewiston: 7.3
* Turner: 7
* Lovell: 7
* Lisbon: 6.5
* Auburn: 6
* Poland: 5.5
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