Suffield Residents React to Fall Snowstorm

Amid the darkness that has befallen Suffield courtesy of the Saturday snowstorm, local residents were happy to find open for business. The phones at the restaurant did not stop ringing through dinner Tuesday night. As owner Jack Bucior said, business has been “phenomenal.”

Suffield Pizza has a generator, enough to power lights and stoves but not enough to open its booths and tables after dark.

“I have waited two and half years to use that generator, but now I’ve been using it for four days. It’s paid for itself.” Bucior added.

The restaurant has been taking payment by cash or check only, as the restaurant’s credit card machines are inoperable due the storm. Patrons were issued a flashlight if they needed to use the bathroom. 

The LaValla family was one of many picking up their dinner. They have been managing with the help of neighbors and friends.

“it has been tougher than I thought,” Joe LaValla said. “We have been going between two different locations because we have friends with a gas stove for cooking. We are a little sick of the back-and-forth but we are managing.”

His wife, Amber, and son, Joey, smiled when Joe noted that he has friends who are lending them a generator. Plans called for showers, lights, maybe some video games and definitely some coffee.

Tom Duclos and Anne Taupier returned to powerless Suffield from a Caribbean cruise Sunday night but have managed to weather the shock and begin to transition.

“It’s tough going from wondering whether to have the filet to trying to find heat,” Duclos said with a laugh. “But at least this isn’t December, when pipes could freeze.”

Even their cruise was altered by the weather. Their original destinations of Costa Rica and Panama were scrapped due to a hurricane in the area so the ship was diverted to Jamaica.

“From 90-plus degrees to this,” Duclos added with a smile.

Like many other Suffield residents, these Alexandra Lane residents have well water, so showers and tap water aren’t possible. Taupier, who works for Phoenix Life, took advantage of her company’s facilities to shower for work. The couple also used the temporary shelter at .

“We are making the best of it,” Taupier said. “I think everyone is and having the showers at the high school is great.”

Brookside Drive resident John Martin sent his family to his mother’s house in Vermont, where they have power. He stayed behind to work.

“I’m just bored,” Martin said. “It gets dark so early, I just end up eating and then going to bed.”

Martin did hear some good news, at least for the rest of his clan.

They told me Killington [ski area] is open…I guess they’ll be back when the power comes back,” he said.

Other residents coming in and out of Suffield Pizza Tuesday night told stories of large car lines at gas stations in Hartford, boiling water on their grill for coffee or tea, trees down on their roofs, limbs across driveways and drivers being generally courteous at the darkened intersections.

So far Suffield residents have taken up the challenge of October snow with a typical New England mentality – they’re making the best of the situation. Darkness gets old fast, however.

Time will tell if that positive attitude will be the light shining through the blackout as powerless nights are expected to continue for many parts of town through Sunday, according to the estimate made Wednesday by Connecticut Light & Power.