First work, then fun, as Greater Nashua digs out then enjoys a snowy playground

NASHUA – All work and no play makes a dull snowy day. Play would come Saturday afternoon in the form of young men and women surfing bumpy terrain transformed by two feet of snow into moguls, and kids careening through fluffy snow on inner tubes. First, however, came the work of digging out of the largest Nor’easter to hit the region since 1993. “I got up at 5 o’clock in the morning to do this,” Chris Foreman said at about 11:30 a.m., as he worked to clear the sidewalk in front of Burque Jewelers on West Hollis Street. Foreman started his day in the dark, as snow continued to pile up in wind-driven drifts. The last flake fell by about 10, and when Foreman lifted shovelfuls of snow outside Burque, the sun was making an appearance. The jewelry store was the third or fourth business on Foreman’s work schedule, and he had several more to go before he would call it a day – a long but profitable day. “I went home and slept for a couple of hours,” Foreman said. With that mid-morning break, the independent snow-removal contractor expected to finish his workday by early afternoon. At Norton’s Cafe at the intersection of Main and West Hollis streets, Renne Dionne and Chris Couturier had a similarly early start to a busy work morning. “We had a catering job, so we were here at 5 or 5:30,” said Dionne, a waitress. “The plow guy had just shown up to plow out the parking lot. It was quite the adventure.” Before brewing coffee and welcoming the first customers, she and Couturier, the head cook, had to shovel the sidewalk in front of the cafe. Then, Couturier had to fill the catering order – 200 egg sandwiches for city public works employees who had worked through the night battling blizzard conditions. “This morning, we got to feed the plow drivers,” Couturier said. Then, the cafe opened to customers. “It was slow, but we had at least one table here since 9 a.m.,” Couturier said. After a long busy morning – with only Couturier and Dionne working – the cafe closed at noon. Throughout the late morning, snowblowers outnumbered cars on Main Street.