The first significant accumulation of snow in Screven County in 37 years saw snowmen dotting the landscape, people of all ages engaging in snowball fights and cameras working overtime.
Utility crews also worked around the clock to trim limbs from power lines and restore power as 4.5 inches of snow fell from about 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, through 7 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13.
The last significant accumulation of snow in the county was 8 to 14 inches on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, 1973, with the amount varying in different parts of the county, the Screven County News reported.
The snow last week delighted many people. “We’ve never seen anything like this in our lifetime, so this is surprising to us,” said Teryn Stewart, 13, of Sylvania. She and her sisters made a tiny snowman downtown as the snow began and daylight ended Friday.
Almost everyone in Sylvania experienced a power outage as the snow fell, and some were without power for a long as eight hours, said Utilities Director Tony Thompson. About a dozen city utility workers toiled around the clock, along with police and fire crews and a repair crew brought in from Douglas, Ga., he said.
Thompson said some customers seemed to be in a good mood despite the power outages and brought crews food and drink as they worked overnight. He said the gestures were very much appreciated by the employees working long hours in freezing temperatures.
Outages were sporadic, with some people losing and regaining power several times. “Not everyone was out the same amount of time or at the same time,” Thompson said.
City council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to spend about $41,000 to hire outside workers to trim limbs from utility rights-of-way. Plans had been in the works for months to hire the crews, and the timing of the vote right after the snow was a coincidence.
Mayor Margaret Evans said the tree-trimming is necessary and that she hopes residents who will hate to see trees trimmed realize it has to be done. “We need to do it,” she said. “I know people don’t want trees trimmed, but there’s no choice.”
Planters EMC had about 1,900 Screven County customers without power in sporadic outages, some as long as 12 hours, said Phil Rhodes, manager of operations.
“It was crazy,” he said. “We fought it all night long.”
Some people said the timing of the snowfall, on Friday evening and early the next morning, was perfect since it caused less disruption than it would have on a weekday. And the roads remained fairly clear, enabling people to ride around, taking photographs.
The snow caused the postponement of the Farm Bureau’s annual “eggs and issues” breakfast with state lawmakers that had been scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13.  A new date had not been set for a second try.
Most of the snow melted by nightfall on Saturday.
The snow had longtime Screven County residents remembering where they were and what they were doing during the 1973 snowfall. Osal Evans, at the time assistant manager of the state patrol post in Sylvania, remembers helping to ferry a sick child and his parents to Talmadge Memorial Hospital in Augusta, driving 25 mph much of the way.
Evans said he measured the snow in Screven County and that it was 9 inches deep. He also said the sick boy got better.