And Latshaw thought he was escaping the snow by moving from Ohio . . .

When retired Beacon Journal printer Dick Latshaw moved to Pawleys Island, South Carolina, 11 years ago he thought he was saying goodbye to snow forever.

Ha!

On Friday Dick and Pat Latshaw and the rest of Pawleys Island got about four inches of snow. Officially, the count was 3.5 inches for Pawleys Island. Forty-nine of the 50 states got at least a trace of snow during this avalanche of snowstorms.

Dick grabbed his camera and provided proof. "It was the first time it snowed since 1989 when Pawleys Island got 22 inches and everything stopped. We had a dusting in 2000 and then nothing till this week."

Dick explains the migration from Ohio to Pawleys Island by retired BJ printers: "Sid Sprague was the first to move to Pawleys Island (from Cuyahoga Falls) around 1997 or 1998. Then Harold and Linda McElroy moved around 1999. Harold & Linda live two blocks from us. Sid moved to Loveland, Colorado after his wife died. We moved (to Pawleys) in 2000. We all live on the same street. It's only 3 blocks long."

The Spragues were friends with a couple on Pawleys. The couple's husband and Sid's wife died, and the widow and Sid got together, and later moved near her family in Colorado.

Dick lives a mile from the Atlantic Ocean and fishes a lot, in the ocean and on a nearby river.

And, it seems, also can build a snowman -- but only if he really hurries.

Emailed Dick:

"Hi

"This is Winter in Pawleys Island we had FOUR INCHES of Snow.

"It is almost gone. The pictures were taken at 8:30 a.m. on the 13th of February.

"It is 11:30 a.m. and it will be gone by 2:30 p.m. It is sunny right now and melting fast. None got on the roads or sidewalks.

DICK & PAT"

As for the alligator, Dick explains:

"The gator walked up the street from the pond behind our house. The garage door was open about 8 to 12 inches he got under there.

"The neighbor saw him go in. It went under the car. I used a push broom to shove him out the door. When he clamped onto the broom I pulled him to the pond and he got off and went to the pond. The gator was about four feet.

"The gator was mad. Hissing and biting at the broom.

"As far I know he is still in the pond I have seen him several times since then.
The garage door is shut now per my wife's instructions."

To see photos of the snow on Dick and Pat's house and property, click on the headline. And you'll see the alligator that invaded their garage this summer, too.