LEHIGHTON – Snow-covered roads are causing a great deal of concern for shops that count on Valentine’s Day business in parts of Carbon County.
With orders on top of orders and roses of every color, Arndt’s Flower Shop is ready for February 14, but the roads may get in the way of getting about 100 orders delivered in the Lehighton area.
"It is a nightmare. Valentine’s Day is one of our two biggest holidays, and with the economy the way it is, every little bit helps. This stinks,” said Terri Andrews.
Arndt’s Flower Shop employees worked through the night, preparing all of the Valentine’s Day orders, their cars buried in snow. They’re just hoping their four delivery drivers can dig out in time.
"They could definitely come in and pick them up. We’ll be here, and we’re doing our best. We’ll get them out as soon as the roads are clear enough for us to get them there,” said Andrews.
Other businesses gave up, saying they’ll open ‘when the dust settles.” While those in town worked to keep up with the falling snow.
And while snow-covered roads are causing problems for many businesses in Carbon County, others are thriving because of it.
At Blue Mountain they’re open for business and they’re actually seeing more customers than expected.
"It caught us off guard a little bit. We actually went down to service level one because we thought people would have a hard time getting here, and they got here,” said Blue Mountain Ski Resort general manager Jim Dailey.
Extra employees are being picked up and brought in to help. Many of the more than 1,000 skiers were enjoying a day off of school.
"Exactly, I could be sitting in history or math right now but I’m out on the slopes,” said Connor O’Hare.
Those hitting the slopes say this snow may be every driver’s nightmare, but it’s every skiers dream.
“It hasn’t been like this in a couple years since I can remember but I’m glad we’re getting it,” said Anthony Appllite of Bethlehem.
“It does not get any better than this if you’re a powder skier. We’re absolutely enjoying ourselves. The only state of emergency we see is if the lifts broke down at this point,” said Allen Wekszner of Hudson.