Suburbanites slide, shovel their way through the day

Thursday's all-day snow didn't turn out to be the snowpocalypse that some weather experts predicted, but it did make for an interesting day.

An exhausting commute. A short day at school. A fun day on the sled hill. A not-so-fun night shoveling. A happy dog prancing through the drifts.

We talked with people around the suburbs to hear how the winter storm affected their day. Here are some of their stories.

• It's been three years since Ryan Miller had seen snow. The 23-year-old Schaumburg man just returned home from Iraq, completing three years of service in the Army.

So when he heard about Thursday's snowstorm, Miller called his boss and said he couldn't come into work. Then he and his friends spent the afternoon at Raging Buffalo Snowboard Park in Algonquin.

"I worked last night, so I slept in the morning. Then my buddy called me up and said, 'Let's go snowboarding!'" Miller said. "It's been great. There's powder everywhere. There are kids everywhere. Everyone's having a great time. It's packed here."

Having grown up in West Dundee, Miller has loved playing in the snow since he was a kid.

"I was waiting for the snow to come," he said. "We're lovin' it out here."

• At 5 a.m. Thursday, the phone rang in Sheri Jo Howell's Palatine home to inform her that Harvest Bible School in Palatine would be closed because of the weather.

She peeked outside her window, noticed that it was barely snowing, and thought, "Really? It must be worse at the school's Elgin campus."

Even if it was a premature decision, her kids, Luke, 10, and Elsie, 6, couldn't have been happier. As they spent the day sledding at a nearby hill, Sherri Jo sat in her car, drank coffee and read a book.

"They were pretty much the only ones there. They dominated the hill," she said.

• What surprised Lombard Deputy Police Chief Dane Cuny the most about the morning rush Thursday was what didn't happen.

"We had two accidents. That's it," Cuny said.

Both were fender benders. After this much snow, he expected much worse.

"We could have two accidents on a nice day," Cuny said.

Maybe people were so scared off by the weather reports that they stayed home from work, Cuny said. Or the powdery, fluffy snow was a little less slippery. Or - could it be? - drivers have finally gotten the message they have to slow down when it snows.

After all, Cuny said, "This isn't our first rodeo."

• Talk about making lemonade out of lemons. At least one local hotel seized the snowfall as a way to shelter the shivering and stranded masses and still make a few bucks.

Country Inn & Suites in Naperville offered a special "Distress Rate" of $69 Thursday.

"If you or your employees can't travel home in the snow, please take advantage of our special Distress Rate," according to an e-mail solicitation. "Must call in the day of the reservation, and must be weather-related. Not valid for current reservations, must be new reservation day of arrival."

• "Isn't it nice out?" said Itasca Police Crime Prevention Officer Rick Brogan with a laugh during Thursday's snowstorm.

Itasca police and public works crews were busy all Thursday morning helping free stuck vehicles and keeping traffic moving when it often funneled into one lane.

"It's a lot of people being cautious and not wanting to pass on the right," Brogan said. "But people are looking out for each other, which is really nice."

The snow did not lead to any major road closures in the village, since public works crews geared up in advance to prepare with enough salt and personnel for the storm.

• Six snow plows got in accidents Thursday. The Illinois Department of Transportation said that in multiple cases, vehicles rear-ended snowplow trucks. IDOT spokeswoman Paris Ervin reminded motorists to "avoid crowding" snow plows and "give the operator plenty of space." Ervin says motorists also should keep in mind that snowplow drivers have restricted vision.

• A show with no theater critics? Because of the snow, Kyle DeSantis, executive producer of Drury Lane Oak Brook Theatre, arranged for a charter bus to drive the Chicago theater critics to Thursday night's press opening of "Funny Girl." The bus will then take them back to Chicago after the show.

• Billy Rodriguez has been driving a salt truck in Elgin on and off for the past 23 years. On Thursday, he and his colleagues worked 12-hour shifts as they tried to keep the roads clear.

"We have a guy who's going to follow us, so we can spread it out twice as fast," said Rodriguez.

Elgin is among a handful of cities using a beet-juice mixture in addition to salt to treat the roads. According to David Lawry, Elgin's Public Works Director, it's proven just as effective, and is cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

"It cuts down on salt usage. It cuts down the amount of calcium chloride, the really corrosive materials that will rust your cars in the winter. And it helps keep the salt out of the water system," he said.

Daily Herald Staff Writers Deb Pankey, Elizabeth Mistretta, Melynda Findlay, Anna Madrzyk, Jim Davis, Barbara Vitello, The Associated Press and ABC 7 contributed to this report.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Snow-related closures</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=349077">Lake County</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=349135">DuPage County</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=349196">Kane County</a></li> </ul> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.emergencyclosingcenter.com/ecc/home.jsp" class="mediaItem">Full list of school closings</a></li> <li><a href="http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=ILZ014" class="mediaItem">Latest Forecast</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/" class="mediaItem">National Weather Service outlook</a></li> <li><a href="http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=lot&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no" class="mediaItem">National Weather Service radar</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.flychicago.com/fidsohare" class="mediaItem">O'Hare flight information</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.flychicago.com/fidsmidway" class="mediaItem">Midway flight information</a></li> <li><a href="http://metrarail.com/content/metra/en/home/service_updates/service_updates_alerts.html" class="mediaItem">Metra service advisories</a></li> <li><a href="http://wrc.gettingaroundillinois.com/winterroadconditions" class="mediaItem">Road conditions</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.gcmtravel.com/gcm/maps_chicago.jsp" class="mediaItem">Traffic conditions</a></li> </ul> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=349123">Images from Thursday's snowstorm</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div style="float:right;margin:6px 6px 6px 6px;"> <img src="/graphics/snowrecords.jpg" width="290" height="309" border="0"></a></p> </div>