If a few inches are in the forecast, plow driver Anthony Laconte is ready to work. By Jillian Ducharme. Photograph by Christopher Churchill.
Anthony Laconte knows a thing or two about snow storms. As a plow driver for the town of Georgetown and owner of construction firm J. Derenzo and Co., he hasn’t missed a storm since 1982. He’s seen almost every type of snow fall from the sky, plenty of dumb driving maneuvers, and one orangutan.
What are your hours during a storm? We get called in for the duration of the storm. We can get everything cleaned up within four to six hours of the last snowflake, but the duration of the storm is controlled by Mother Nature. If the snowstorm goes for two days, we have plenty of employees, so we can swap guys out and the equipment never really stops moving.
What’s the longest duration you’ve been out plowing? Three and a half days during the blizzard of ’96 and it was brutal.
Do other drivers cause problems for you when you’re plowing? It’s actually kind of savage amusement for the guys plowing the snow. I watched a woman pound herself into a snow bank, then go down an icy hill in a BMW all for Dunkin’ Donuts. You think, ‘What’s wrong with these people?’ It’s amazing the effort people will go through for a coffee.
What are the challenges you face during a storm? The biggest challenge is dealing with the people who are impatient, especially before Christmas. Once they see some black on the ground, they’re out and trying to pass us; they have no patience. We’re trying to concentrate on detail work and go around road obstacles, but then also look out for cars on the road.
What kind of storm do you like the best? The bigger, the better. I prefer a challenge; give me 20-30 inches of snow and then you’re really challenging yourself. It’s fun and keeps you busy. Sitting in a truck for four inches of snow to come is boring, but when it’s snowing an inch or more an hour, that’s what separates the men from the boys.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen while plowing? At one point I was plowing in Saugus at a mini golf course. I’d pull up, and it didn’t matter what time, but a very homely broad would always be waving to me in this big picture window. One night, during the later part of the season, I was doing a four-point-turn and the lights shone into the window, and I saw that it was an orangutan the whole time!