If you were out for a cup of coffee in Bethlehem on Monday morning, you’d encounter mainly closed signs, as most small businesses remained shut.
Residents were digging with shovels, and in some cases their hands, to break through the walls of snow that blocked in their cars, while a few families could be seen walking through the streets with sleds.
Across the Lehigh Valley on Monday, residents, business owners and public works crews were digging out from one of the worst snowfalls the region has seen in several years.
In a neighborhood off Union Boulevard in west Bethlehem, Hannah Finelli took a snow blower to retirees Brian and Sharon Wiles-Young’s neighboring property.
Finelli said she looks forward to snow days — she enjoys the camaraderie of neighbors all out on the streets, working toward one shared goal: digging their way out of the snow.
“I love the snow, so this is a fun time,” she said. “The kids are enjoying it to the fullest, and we were out all day yesterday, just helping the neighborhood.”
Jeannie McFarland, who works at a retail store on Bethlehem’s Broad Street that was open during the storm, said she watched through the store’s window Sunday as the snow continued to pile up, trapping her small Toyota in a foot of snow. Only with the help of friends was she able to access her car and return home after her shift.
“I would say this is worse than the last blizzard we had,” McFarland said.
It hardly seemed possible, but the red, white and blue flag fluttering over Let’s Go Coffee Co. in Emmaus — the flag with the word “Open” across the center bar — hadn’t been left out by mistake before the storm.
The cafe really was open Monday, and Pablo Farnan, co-owner with his wife, Mandy Seiss, was behind the counter, smiling and ready to serve.
He was, as far as a foot-slogging survey of the borough’s downtown could determine, the only merchant doing business Monday morning.
“It’s really for the community,” Farnan told a visitor who asked why on Earth he opened in the wake of a snowstorm that brought the Lehigh Valley to a virtual standstill.
“There’s shovelers,” Farnan said. “There’s walkers. Our goal is to be open as much as possible and be a safe spot for people.”
The borough streets were by and large deserted except for a few people shoveling or running snowblowers. Barbara Dwyer was walking down the middle of Third Street with her 10-year-old dog, Jack, a big and friendly mutt with the color scheme of an Oreo.
“I slipped twice yesterday,” said Dwyer, who nonetheless continued to brave the weather for Jack’s sake.
Some unknown Good Samaritan with a plow had cleaned up around her house, she said. The neighborhood is like that, full of friendly and conscientious people.
“If they see I need help crossing the street they’ll help me,” she said.
Amy Fallock and her daughter, Kinsley Fallock, took advantage of the Monday snow day near the Family Dollar on Broad Street in Bethlehem, where Kinsley took a sled up and down a large snow bank, skidding through the empty parking lot.
“The snow is very big, so I get to go super far down,” Kinsley said.
Elsewhere in Bethlehem, Aykroyd Hardware opened Monday with a “rock salt sold out” sign on the door and an owner who said he had too much snow clearing to do to talk as he worked to re-clear the path to the street he’d opened Sunday.
Matti Sing, operator of Jack’s Beverage, said they managed to stay open Sunday. He called Sunday’s business “not bad, not good.”
They opened at 9 a.m. Monday, and Sing was clearing the walk to get a clear path to the outside ice machine while he waited for his “snow guys” to show up with trucks to clear the parking lot. Overall, Sing said, “I like summer better.”
Alithia Klados, owner of a building at the corner of New and Goepp streets in Bethlehem that houses her hair salon and a taqueria, said shoveling is just a “responsibility of having property.” She had earbuds on to enjoy music as she worked to clear the sidewalk Monday morning.
Klados didn’t expect to open her salon Monday, and the taqueria is regularly closed Sunday and Monday, she said.
She said she spent a “perfect” snow day Sunday. “I watched movies. Binged on snacks. I cuddled with my cat.”