snow

"It Never Snows in River Bend!"

This is what we were told when we were house shopping in River Bend in 1986.  This was music to our ears.  We wanted to get away from the cold weather and all the snow and ice storms we were experiencing  in New Jersey each winter. Having to shovel out a long driveway before work was also something we wanted to eliminate from our retirement agenda. Unbelievable as it may seem, New Jersey was experiencing a blizzard which left the area leaving large snow drifts behind.  We did not expect our movers to arrive as scheduled. We had a pleasant surprise coming however.  Early in the morning, the moving van came barreling thru the snow and the crew immediately began loading our furniture.

    We had another surprise coming.  River Bend and the area was having a rare blizzard. We arrived a day ahead of the mover with no furniture or cooking utensils. .  Our new neighbors, the Gelwicks, complete strangers, invited us over to their home for one of the special "Southern" dinners which was a very welcome treat after the long ride from New Jersey  This was our first introduction to "Southern Hospitality".

    The next morning we were blessed as the storm had died down and children were skiing and sledding  down Gatewood Drive.  I did not have the time to photograph the storm in January of 1987when we arrived here.  I was busy setting up furniture so we would not spend another night sleeping on the bedroom floor.   It is rare that River Bend experiences snow or ice covered roads.  Temperatures through the winter are quite mild apparently warmed by the Gulf Stream.  However there have been two other occasions when River Bend did have blizzards.  One occurred in December 2000. The results are pictured above.

    Snow or ice never lasts very long in River Bend and is gone in a day or two.  Golf, tennis, cycling, jogging,  boating and fishing are year round sports.

    And then on January 22, 2003, it  happened again.  Overnight we were covered with a blanket of six inches of snow.  This time however it was accompanied by sub-freezing temperatures for several days.  River Bend streets were covered with a sheet of ice.  New Bern for the most part had closed down.  RiverBend Market, one of the hardy ones, stayed open to serve the public.  Karl Wolfer had dared the elements. Below are a few scenes of seldom seen snow.

Al Kish
302 Gatewood Drive