Snow storm drops over 9 inches of snow on Johnston

Saturday’s snowstorm dumped 9½ inches of powdery snow on Johnston.

“As usual, the DPW was on top of its game and did an excellent job,” Mayor Joseph Polisena assessed. “For us, this was an uneventful snow storm. Most important, there was no damage.”

Pre-treating the roads with a special formula mixed at the (DPW) garage helped, according to DPW Director Arnold “Arnie” Vecchione. “It’s a process we’ve been using for several years,”

    Vecchione said “We had 15 of our people driving snow plows and smaller snow removal vehicles and everyone did a super job during the storm.” Ten private contractors assisted during the storm as well.

    Vecchione said, “We didn’t get any angry telephone calls; we did, though, receive calls commending our staff for keeping the roads passable.”

While the DPW led the way, staffers from the Johnston School Department and the Parks and Recreation Department also made sure the schools were ready to open and that other areas were safe, according to directors Dave Cournoyer and Dan Mazzulla.

     Although Sunday’s bone-chilling temperatures were reason enough to stay home, Recreation Department staffers plowed the walking track surrounding Johnston War Memorial Park and people venture outside into the cold to enjoy it.

     The pristine park, which Polisena called “Our crown jewel”, was also the scene of children of all ages sledding down two hilly areas with their friends and parents. Much of that activity was on the hill in back of Johnston’s recently upgraded baseball field, as children, sometimes assisted by mom and dad, slid down the slope in sleds in a rainbow of colors and variety of shapes and were even inflated to look like an old-fashioned inner tube.