back in those days, art was a professional musician (and a darn good one, too). he played the trumpet, and al tell played piano. they had a new year’s or christmas party at either the skirvin or the biltmore. that night, a winter storm blew in during the dance that brought a strange form of sleet, about the size of BB’s. it virtually covered the entire city within a few hours, and made traffic virtually impossible. NO ONE could move, period! he said it was like the world was blanketed in slippery ball bearings. the hotel had to let everyone stay in (fortunately, they were well-stocked for the party).

what made it most interesting was, they had to stay for several days (maybe the better part of a week). the streetcar tracks were still there, and the only vehicle that could roam the street was the trash truck, which they somehow got to run on the streetcar rails. the interurban had already been shut down, but only very recently. i’m guessing this was probably about 1948, but i don’t know.

it was neat to hear him tell it, especially how everybody really pulled together as a community while the city rode out the storm. are there any other recollections out there of this event?