No snow, but roof rakes still in demand

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. (WWLP) - Until Old Man Winter finally shows us the snow, people aren't buying shovels, de-icer, and other things considered necessary to cope with winter. Still, despite the mild weather, it seems people don't want to be caught without a roof rake of their own.

We remember all too well what the roof rake shortage was like last winter . “It was bad,” Diane Evans of Springfield said. “I actually had to rig up something, my pool pole and then the brush that I use to clean the pool.”

Bill Bedard of Longmeadow agrees that there is a fear factor here that is driving people to make certain they've got a roof rake this time around when it finally does snow. “Last year, people were caught with the ice dams. When the heavy snow’s on the roofs, they had to clear the roofs and people want to be prepared,” Bedard said.

Rick LaVallee, the assistant manager of Rocky's Ace Hardware in East Longmeadow, has his own take on why people are playing it safe by stocking up on roof rakes before they're actually needed. “We had a frenzy; no one was able to reach anything,” LaVallee said. “They were taking to constructing their own from conduits, whatever possible.”

The snow has yet to fly as it did this week a year ago, but harried homeowners have long memories that discourage them from being caught short, as we were last winter.