Hunter’s Moon

Call it Middleburg’s version of Boston’s Big Dig

That’s what Peter Hitchen and his a number of snow-covered Tilden Enterprises and Big Ass Cans subsidiary were charged with accomplishing after last month’s blizzard dumped 30 inches of white stuff on the town. And they were definitely up to the job.

Working 18-hour days with a crew of 14, they removed most of the snow within three days. Most side streets were cleared and made passable within a day and soon after, Washington Street was virtually snow free, with parking meters even visible on both sides.

Hitchen’s crew, also aided by Eddie Payne Trucking in Marshall and the town’s jack-of-all trades maintenance chief, Marvin Simms, also were busy clearing a number of snow covered parking lots, including the Sporting Library and Museum and the Chronicle of the Horse.

They used three dump trucks, three skid loaders and several more farm tractors to get rid of all that snow, utilizing dumpsters to transport it to Mickey Gordon Park, which looked like a mini- version of the Alps.

“We got it done as fast as we could,” Hitchen said. “Our main intention was to get everyone open for business again and I think we did. It was one of the biggest storms I’ve ever seen. So fast, so steady. Just amazing.”