That’s one of the thoughts that ran through Jeff Dora’s head as his village Department of Public Works crews worked feverishly Tuesday and Wednesday to remove more than three feet of snow from the village’s streets and sidewalks.

All that snow would have come in handy for the Feb. 25 World Snowshoe Championships. Instead, due to a lack of snow, village crews had to work overtime to move stockpiled and trucked-in snow to Dewey Mountain Recreation Center, so the event could still happen.

“We did chuckle about it and said, ‘This could only happen to us,'” Dora said. “Two weeks before (the Snowshoe Championships) we had a good amount of snow on the ground. Two weeks later, we had nothing. Now we’re sitting here with three feet or more of snow. It makes you wonder, what did we do to tick Mother Nature off?”

As Dora spoke with the Enterprise Wednesday evening, village DPW crews were finishing clearing and picking snow downtown, which was shut down for most of the day. Most downtown businesses and restaurants closed their doors, and Main Street and Broadway seemed deserted except for the village loaders and tandem trucks, and the occasional passing pedestrians.

A note on the door of the Left Bank Cafe on Broadway in Saranac Lake tells customers the business is closed Wednesday after the blizzard that dumped more than 3 feet of snow on the area.

“It’s quiet on the street,” said Krys Graves, a hairstylist at Salon Mirage on Main Street, one of the few downtown businesses that was open the day after the blizzard. “We had someone ski in here today to get her hair done. It’s a little sparse on business, but we did come in for the clients who were able to make it.”

Graves said all the snow isn’t a big inconvenience for her, “so I’m cool with it.

“It’s pretty rare this kind of thing happens,” she said. “I’ve lived up here for nearly 30 years and I think this is the most snowfall I’ve seen.”

Paul Byno agreed. He pulled into the Enterprise parking lot around 5:30 p.m. to buy a copy of the newspaper for his 93-year-old father. Due to the weather, there was no home delivery of the paper Wednesday.

“This is the most snow I can remember getting at once,” said Byno, who owns the Spruce Inn on Lake Flower Avenue and has lived in Saranac Lake since 1972. “It reminds me of Saranac Lake from years ago, with the big snow banks. When I was in my 20s, when it was that bad and the roads were closed, my brother and I would take the snowmobiles into town and visit friends. I think it’s great, and I’m retired so I can deal with it.”

In another rarity, there was no home mail delivery in the Saranac Lake area Wednesday. The Post Office on Broadway was open but it closed early, which Byno discovered when he went to mail a letter there.

“But the fella took my letter from the back and they stamped it and got it off for me,” he said. “That was real nice. That’s kind of the Saranac Lake thing.”

That friendly spirit played out around the village Wednesday. Neighbors pitched in to help other neighbors shovel and move mountains of snow.

“I just got in from what seemed a hopeless task: clearing my driveway,” Emmett Hoops posted on the Enterprise website. “A neighbor saw me standing next to a 6-foot pile and put her snowblower to work. I could have been out there for another two or three hours doing that. Hooray for Payeville Lane and the great neighbors who share it!”

“I would be stuck until the spring thaw if it weren’t for the kindness of my neighbor,” wrote Joanne Bevilacqua. “Thanks to the State Street neighbors and their help.”

While many people were digging out, others headed to the ski slopes. The new snow allowed Mount Pisgah Ski Center to re-open for a rare powder day.

“It’s very, very awesome,” said eight-year-old Ebin Meissner of Saranac Lake. “My dad says it’s been a century since we’ve gotten this much snow.”

Meissner’s friend and classmate, Miles Frazier, said he was having fun but admitted he wasn’t used to skiing in these kinds of conditions.

“It’s very hard,” he said. “It knocked off my ski twice.”

Emergency officials had asked people to limit any unnecessary travel, but both Essex and Franklin counties rescinded their emergency declarations Wednesday evening.

Although the village’s snow removal effort is far from over, Dora said it was moving faster than he hoped.

“I didn’t anticipate starting (downtown cleanup) until (Wednesday) night, but when the snow let up we said, ‘Let’s close downtown and get it done.’ I wasn’t sure we could do it in one day, but we pulled it off.”

Dora said his crews would work early Thursday morning to clear snow from St. Bernard and Dorsey streets, and the section of Main Street between River Street and Kiwassa Road. The village plans to clear the Dorsey Street parking lot today, even though some people’s cars are still buried there.

“After talking to the village manager, this is probably the only time we’re not going to tow anybody,” Dora said, “just because it’s a really extreme situation, with cars buried under snowbanks. We’ll try our best to get around the ones that are still there.”

After that, crews will move on to Bloomingdale Avenue, Church Street and Broadway from Bloomingdale Avenue to Ampersand Avenue.

Looking back on the storm, Dora said it’s one he’ll never forget.

“It was tough plowing (Tuesday night). I’ve never seen anything like it,” Dora added. “For those guys to get out there and keep up with what was happening in those conditions, this crew really stepped to the plate. The taxpayers are lucky to have group as dedicated as these guys are.”