The Storm to Come

Dear Hawleyites and Friends–As you have no doubt heard, we are expected to have extremely cold temperatures for the next few days and a significant amount of snow starting Sunday and running through Monday. Brrr!

Our Emergency Services Director, Brandon Root, downloaded the photo above from MEMA. More tips may be found here.

You probably know the basics: Check your supplies at home like generators, fuel, food, bottled water, charged flashlights, charged cell phones (if you have cell service!), and so forth.

If your heat is not working and you need to come to the Town Office to warm up, please call me, Tinky, at 413-339-4747. Either I or someone else will meet you there.

National Grid tells us that it is not expecting a power outage. Of course, the unexpected happens. If the power is out in Hawley for at least four hours, we will have someone at the Town Office with the generator on.

In general, even if you do have power, remember to dress warmly, stay inside as much as possible, and check on vulnerable neighbors. (We know from past storms that many Hawleyites do that last thing instinctively, but a little reminder never hurts.)

Finally, if you are shoveling snow—and apparently there will be a lot of it to shovel—please observe these safety tips for heart health.

Remember, we are hardy New Englanders, and we can handle snow! We just need to stay calm and handle it in a measured way.

By the way, if you were looking for Town Clerk Ellie Van Iderstine today, she apologizes. She also works for the town of Williamsburg, where she was helping to plan response for the storm. She should be in the office tomorrow, Saturday, January 24. Call (413-339-5518) before heading in to see her.

Paul Mark Is Coming to Hawley!

I’m trying not to clutter up this newsletter; the storm is the big deal. But I wanted to alert you to mark your calendars for Monday, February 9, at 2 p.m. State Senator Paul Mark plans to come to the Hawley Town Office then (with refreshments!) to address any concerns Hawleyites might have about state government and to let us know what we might need to do now that our representative, Natalie Blais, has resigned to take a new job. (As you may have read in the newspaper, her position will be up for election in the fall.)

I’ll have more details on this event soon. The snow date is Friday, February 13.

That’s it for now! Stay snug……

Warmly (we hope!),

Tinky Weisblat
Gal Friday
Town of Hawley

413-339-5518
info@townofhawley.com