A Sense of Duty and Pride

Collegiate’s North Mooreland Road campus is open for business Wednesday because of the resolve, industriousness, and spirit of the good folks on our physical plant staff.  Collectively and individually, they took note of the seemingly daunting forecast of Winter Storm Jonas almost a week ago and said, in so many words, “Bring it on.”

 

Then, after the deluge of white finally moved on, they left the warmth and comfort of their homes in such far-reaching areas as Midlothian, Powhatan, Goochland, Dinwiddie, and Tappahannock first thing Sunday morning, traveled to school, and began the arduous task of ridding our roads, parking lots, and sidewalks of more snow than even the grizzled veterans have seen in a very long time.

 

“We have an amazing staff,” said Scott Carson, director of facilities management and construction. “I can’t say enough about their dedication. They take great pride in making the school as clean and clear as possible. Frankly, camaraderie develops as we’re pushing this snow together. Let’s face it. It’s tough, it hurts, but it’s a shared duty, and we do it because we love where we work.”

 

Green Side Up Landscaping, an outside contractor, brought in heavy equipment to remove some of the 15-or-so inches of snow. Then, it was up to our crew to finish the job and make almost 26,000 linear feet of sidewalk – that’s almost five miles, mind you – passable and, most important, safe.

 

Twenty physical plant staffers teamed to complete the job. They put in about seven hours Sunday, seven more Monday, and five on Tuesday using a pickup truck with a plow, two tractors, two Bobcats, and a Dingo.

 

“And shovels…a lot of shovels…and backs,” said Robert Moore, Collegiate’s assistant director of facilities whom I encountered near the Jacobs Gym using one of the tractors to clear the edges of the road so both lanes would be available.

 

“The biggest challenge,” he added, “is where to put all the snow. There’s definitely a lot of it.”

 

“So where are you putting it?” I inquired.

 

“Wherever we can,” he answered as he swept his hand across the white landscape. “We’re piling it up in a lot of places. Pushing some into the creek. Look around. There’re lots of mountains of snow.”

 

“Your staff obviously takes pride in doing the job right,” I offered.

 

“They do,” my friend replied with a wry grin, “but I’m ready to move to Florida myself.”

 

Robert then hopped back in the cab of the tractor and resumed scooping snow into the large bucket and depositing it down the embankment.

           

My next stop was McFall Hall where I found Tito Fortis, George Cooke, and brothers Jesse and James Garrant clearing the steps and deck the old fashioned way: with shovels.

           

“It’s exponentially harder to get this snow up than a snow that’s just four to six inches deep, which is what we’re accustomed to,” explained Allison Moyer, our grounds supervisor. “It’s just amazing how much shoveling we’ve had to do.”

 

“It probably helps that this is mostly snow and not much ice,” I said.

 

“Unfortunately,” Allison explained, “we had a lot of snow, but then we had an ice layer underneath because of the ground warming up. The first day, it was just pure snow. The second day we hit a fair amount of ice.”

 

That, I surmised, and the runoff caused by the above-freezing but still chilly temperatures would explain why I’d seen Robyn Hartley near the Development Office dutifully chipping solid ice from the sidewalk that wouldn’t melt before evening.

 

Next, I encountered Wilbur Athey, our special events and projects supervisor, working a Bobcat along the sidewalk on North Mooreland Road.

           

“What’s going on?” I asked cheerily, as if the answer wasn’t 100 percent obvious.

 

“A lot of snow removal,” Wilbur answered. “Just getting school ready for our kids to come back on Wednesday.”

 

“This is a matter of pride,” I said, restating a recurring theme.

“I would say so,” he replied. “It’s our job. We rise to the challenge.” 

                                                       -- Weldon Bradshaw