But you won’t hear him complain.
“I’ve been getting good tips,” he said. “I think it’s because people felt bad for me.”
For the most part, area folks who can’t get out — or don’t want to — are appreciative of the efforts of area delivery people.
That’s the case for those who receive food from Meals on Wheels, said the organization’s executive director, Anita Masteller.
In advance of the storm, volunteer drivers delivered two days’ worth of meals to clients. Deliveries were suspended Tuesday and were kept to a minimum Wednesday due to a state of emergency declared in Hazleton.
Despite the temporary closure, Masteller hadn’t heard any complaints.
“(Clients) are so sweet. They tell me they’re OK because they don’t want to upset me,” she said.
Six volunteer drivers, whom Masteller refers to as “The Snow Patrol,” turned out Thursday to deliver meals to about 60 clients.
“They have the vehicles that will help them go into just about anything,” she said.
If conditions are unsafe, drivers know that they can pass on the delivery.
“We don’t want them to take any chances,” she said.
Debbie Vito of Frankie’s Pizzeria and Restaurant in Hazleton said the eatery had one delivery person working Thursday. On a normal day, she said, Frankie’s has two.
“We worry about their safety and don’t want to put them in danger,” said Vito, who noted Frankie’s was closed Tuesday and Wednesday because of the storm.
The crippling storm caused the U.S. Postal Service to call off mail deliveries Tuesday but carriers like Tony Fudge were back on the streets Thursday.
Fudge had to climb over snow piles to access homes on his McAdoo route. And since many folks hadn’t shoveled their sidewalks, Fudge had no choice but to walk in the streets. To make matters worse, some hadn’t cleared paths to their mailboxes.
A West Hazleton mail carrier walked against traffic along busy Route 93 because only a handful of Broad Street sidewalks had been cleared. He had to scale waist-high banks of plowed snow to access some homes.
Deliveries to Boyer’s Food Markets in Hazleton resumed Wednesday, a few hours after the store reopened.
“We opened at 6 a.m. and we were able to get milk deliveries fairly early,” said Matt Nonnemacher, manager of the store’s nonperishable department. “Our bread delivery arrived around mid-day.”
Nonnemacher said store management upped its order of some items in advance of the storm.
“We were pretty well stocked with all the essentials everyone would need,” he said.
And while bread, milk and eggs flew from the shelves pre-storm, Nonnemacher said supplies have been replenished.
jwhalen@standardspeaker.com
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