We get teased out here in Nevada with lovely, warm spring weather only to be slapped in the face with snow and cold temperatures amidst blooming tulips. As snow is predicted in Reno and Carson City this evening – May 10 – it reminds me of another time and place and climate. The Buffalo, New York of my youth.

I grew up in Buffalo. Thirty-seven years later I found myself in the hot, dry desert climate of Western Nevada, which seemed like an oasis in comparison to my hometown. Since arriving in Nevada I have been privileged to offer the services of the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), in an effort to lessen the amount of energy a household utilizes, hence lower utility bills and hopefully enhance the quality of life. 

“Weatherization”…what a cold, uninspiring word. Sounds like something I would have been diagnosed with in Western New York, not something I would do for a living in Western Nevada!

Our WAP has helped many households that were without heat by installing new high efficiency furnaces. As part of our program we conduct safety tests on all combustion appliances to assure homes are safe and install carbon monoxide alarms. Over the years I have seen the difference the weatherization measures can make in a person’s life and to this day hearing the word “weatherization” inspires in me thoughts of families, community, caring, warmth, relief and respect.

It has been a long-standing joke that Buffalo is the “arctic of the north”, known for freezing, damp temperatures that penetrate deep into your bones and remain there until the first spring thaw and lake effect snow storms that can leave eight foot snow drifts plastered against your house blowing in under doors and windows. As a child I enjoyed the winter weather in Buffalo. Oh, to be 10 years old and awaken to such a sight, anxiously waiting to hear that wonderful phrase emit from my powder blue am radio, “All Buffalo Public and Parochial Schools are closed”.

Embedded in my memory is the “blizzard of ’77”.  I was on a Niagara Frontier Transit Bus heading east on William St. in the City of Buffalo when the bus came to a dead stop, unable to move any further due to blinding snow and high drifts blocking the road.  I had two choices; to remain on the bus and possibly freeze to death or take my chances at walking the five miles ahead of me.  Unable to see my hand in front of my face and each step I took obliterated within seconds, I trudged homeward. 

When I arrived, I remember my mother rubbing my hands and feet, wrapping me in warm blankets, worried that I had frost bite. We surely could have used Weatherization back in Buffalo during those long, cold winter months.

Margaret Donnelly
Weatherization Program Manager