While Wednesday’s snowstorm left most Lakes Region residents curled up under warm quilts, some town employees were up and moving before the first flakes touched the ground.

Don Staples, the road foreman for the town of Standish, had his alarm clock set on the hour every hour from midnight until he made his way to work at 4 a.m. Staples had to keep checking to see when the snow started to come down.

“We were due for one,” Staples said flatly. At 4 a.m. he notified the town’s five plow operators that it was time to head out.

The plow trucks had been loaded with road salt the night before and were waiting for Staples and his crew to take them out onto the frozen streets.

Over the town line into Windham, Public Works Director Doug Fortier started his day at 3:30 a.m. Fortier said the Windham Police notify his department when it’s time to haul out the plows.

“They’re our eyes on the road in the middle of the night and they call us when it starts snowing,” he said.

Fortier said most storms as big as Wednesday’s pose a challenge to hold back the tides of white powder.

“Until the storm ends, you’re not going to get it cleaned up. You just have to hold your own,” he said.

Fortier is usually asked by Margo Fournier, the director of transportation from the bus garage next door, for advice on whether to close school or not.

“I don’t think they really had to ask today,” Fortier said. “I thought they might have canceled last night just on the predictions.”

All the schools in the Lakes Region area were closed Wednesday.

Fournier said she doesn’t have trouble getting to the bus garage on snowy days.

“I have a good four-wheel-drive Tahoe that will get me through just about anything,” she said.

Fournier said on storm days she gets up at 4:15 a.m. and learns the latest weather conditions. She makes phone calls to the Windham police on road conditions and usually asks the public works department as well.

After talking to the surrounding districts she makes a call to Superintendent Sandy Prince and they decide what to do next.

“We like to have a decision by 5 a.m.,” said Fournier.

After that, a call-tree is used to inform bus drivers and school employees, as well as television and radio stations.

“It’s a real tough decision, but once you make it, you gotta go with it,” she said. School can be canceled or delayed to allow more time for the roads to be cleared. If conditions worsen on a day school was in session, they still have the option for early dismissal.

Critics can be harsh, according to Andy Madura, director of transportation, facilities and food service for SAD 61.

“Everyone calls in and tells you how stupid you are,” said Madura. He has had this position for 18 years and has yet to receive a phone call from someone congratulating him for making the right call.

Madura said his typical storm day starts at 3:30 a.m. and includes a half-hour drive. He then calls the National Weather Service in Gray and talks to a live person.

“I try to utilize people that are already out,” he said. He also makes calls to the road foreman and police officers, as well as his counterparts in Fryeburg, Ossipee and Oxford Hills.

Madura said his area is about 70 square miles and extends from the tip of Raymond to Fryeburg.

By 5 a.m. he calls school Superintendent Frank Gorham and suggests a plan.

“When I give a recommendation, I always err on the side of safety,” said Madura. When he’s not sure, he said he calls school off.

“A lot of it is timing,” he said. Some heavy storms that start around 3 a.m. happen too fast for plow operators to clean up in time. Even if the roads are clean, the sidewalks may still be covered which would make it tough for kids to get to the bus stop.

“It’s always a tough decision,” said SAD 6 Superintendent Suzanne Lukas. Her district has until 5:30 a.m. to reach a decision before it’s time to contact her employees and the media.

Lukas said she will sometimes contact neighboring school superintendents and discuss school cancellations.

“We hate to lose a day of school if there’s no need to,” she said. “We take this decision very seriously.”

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