School districts can do away with vacations or schedule classes to run later in June.
SPRINGFIELD -- The hopeful news: sacks of spring lawn fertilizers with crabgrass control should start taking the place of rock salt at Rocky's Ace Hardware locations in just a few weeks.
"It doesn't feel like it. But we like to think spring will be here very shortly," said Seth Dihlmann, category manager at Rocky's corporate headquarters in Springfield.
Right now in the stores, though, everything winter-related is selling very well.
Snowfall measured at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut totaled 37.5 inches for the winter measured through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. That's a little more than 12 inches above the 30-year average the Weather Service uses to figure "normal."
Last year, 35 inches of snow had fallen by this point in the winter. But the foot or so that fell Monday as part of Winter Storm Marcus probably put us back on pace to match the 2013-2014 totals.
"Ice melt is flying out the door. Snow shovels are selling. Roof rakes are selling," Dihlmann said. "The snow is getting deep enough that people are taking good looks at their roofs and trying to get some of that snow off there."
But, Jack Frost giveth and Jack Frost taketh away. The bad weather has fewer people buying even interior paint.
"People put off projects because they have to be outside shoveling and clearing," Dihlmann said. "February is usually a pretty slow time in the hardware business."
Other businesses and organizations that rely on people being willing and able to get out and about fare worse. That includes restaurants, schools and even blood drives.
When snow's on the menu
Andy Yee and his family own and run seven area restaurants including the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee, and are partners in the iconic Student Prince Cafe and The Fort Dining Room in Springfield.
Yee said he has had to close all the restaurants twice so far this winter, and he's had to endure small crowds on other nights when the weather kept folks home, or drove them to go home early and skip happy hour at The Fort.
"We don't cry over spilled milk," Yee said. "It is certainly not a welcome thought to close down. But it is something you build into your yearly budget. You plan to have to close down just like schools do. We're New Englanders. You live with it."
He said media saturation makes people stay home.
Yee kept the restaurants open Monday in part because The Fort is hosting its Hunter's Game Night -- the event's 79th year.
"We aren't breaking ranks on that," Yee said.
It has helped, he said, that the storms have hit on Monday nights, a traditionally slow evening for restaurants.
"Weekends are your prime time," he said. "That's when you feel the pinch."
A tough time for a drive
Speaking of feeling a pinch, fewer people are able to give blood because weather has forced the cancellation of a number of blood drives.
The Massachusetts Blood Services Region of The American Red Cross has called off 60 blood drives totaling 2,000 donations across Massachusetts this winter, said Jecoliah Ellis, external communications manager for the Blood Services Region. Ten drives were canceled Monday and several on Tuesday are iffy.
"We are asking eligible donors to come in and give blood when and if it is safe to do so," she said.
Those 2,000 donations translate into 2,000 pints of blood. Each pint of blood can save as many as three lives.
But so far, there is no shortage.
"We are currently meeting the needs of patients," Ellis said.
She encouraged people to visit Redcrossblood.org, call 1-800-Red-Cross or download the Red Cross blood donation app on their smartphones. The app allows donors to keep track of their donations.
Snow days: Making up for lost time
Schools have also been canceled and it is unclear how they'll make up the lost time.
Jacqueline Reis, media relations coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said all school districts must be in session for 180 days. They must also scheduled a total of 185 days, allowing for five snow days. Some districts have already eaten through their five-day cushion; others have not.
To make up for snow day totals that number more than five, districts may decide to cancel or shorten the April vacation period, convert scheduled professional development days into school days for students, hold school on Saturday, keep school open on Good Friday, or add days later in June beyond the originally scheduled last day of school.
In a letter Friday to school superintendents, Mitchell D. Chester, Massachusetts commissioner of elementary and secondary education, said he does have the ability to forgive missed days in cases where districts have established innovative calendars with lengthened school days.
As of Monday afternoon the state had received some email inquires from school districts looking to get the 180-day-rule waived, Reis said. There have been no formal requests, however.
"In the case of proposals for longer school days in lieu of the required 180 days, we will need to see details on how the longer day would be structured, how it fits with teacher contracts, and how it would benefit students," she said.
Travel and transit
Peter Pan Bus Lines expects to run as scheduled Tuesday, said Kimberly Haile, a spokeswoman for the Springfield-based company.
She said ridership doesn't spike in bad weather with people looking to avoid driving.
"Instead, people are hesitant to travel in general and often wish to postpone their trip or try to travel at an earlier date/time in order to beat the storm," she said in an email.
