Dedicated workers shovel clear paths regardless of weather
By CORY CLAESON
DCN Correspondent
On a typical wintry Duluth day, the snow falls slowly and fluffy until it comes to rest on the ground. There is a fogginess caused by the weather making visibility low. The sidewalks are covered with the outline of size nine shoe imprints embedded in the snow. That is until you reach the St. Louis County Government Center.
It is here where you can find rosy-cheeked workers shoveling the concrete steps and sidewalks shortly after the snow starts falling. The cleaning staff employed by the county has no problem working in this kind of weather.
“It’s kind of nice out…it’s not too windy and not too cold,� says Mary Milleker as she shovels and directs her employees.
As the snow falls, you can find Milleker pacing back and forth moving the snow into piles, leaving behind a small trail that somehow eludes the shovel. She stops occasionally to clean her foggy glasses. The combination of heavy breathing and cold weather contribute to her temporary blindness.
Milleker is not alone in the cleanup effort. Another worker with a matching yellow-handled black shovel joins in the effort. It’s as if they are spinning their wheels because the snow is falling faster than the two can shovel together. Within just a few minutes, the snow continues to plummet down, blanketing the trails they had cleared off only minutes before.
The fast snowfall doesn’t damper Milleker’s spirits as she recalls the times she had to shovel snow for the city during times of inclement weather.
“I’ve shoveled blizzards, this is nothing,� she says about the inch of snow on the ground.
As the skies turn from gray to dark, there are fewer people walking the sidewalks. Milleker and her staff work diligently as they strive to complete their job.
The snow subsides and Milleker battles on, clearing a path. She has some difficulty chipping the slick ice that lays on the stubborn and uneven brick pavement. It’s as if no challenge could deter Milleker from finishing her mission.
Men and women wearing suits walk by Milleker with sprinkles of snowflakes on their coats and little or no snow on their shoes. The path is clear. Just across the street you can find a person slipping and sliding as they walk. The sidewalk is full of snow there. The people realize how important this sometimes-overlooked job is.
“Anybody with a sidewalk out front, it is a necessity,� said local worker Gary Houdek, referring to having a clear sidewalk outside businesses.
The next time snow falls in Duluth, Milleker and her crew will be on the scene again, manually shoveling snow from the steps and sidewalks outside the government center. Barring a bizarre circumstance, she’ll be pacing back and forth leaving the same faint trail of snow behind until all of it has been removed from the sidewalks.