Winter warriors brave the elements in different ways

LACONIA – Even though most people retreat to the indoors when the winter begins to blanket New England with ice, snow and chilling temperatures, there are many folks whose work forces them to brave the elements.

Unsung winter heroes may be out plowing, shoveling, snow blowing, raking roofs, filling oil tanks, directing traffic or delivering packages. Here is a look at three winter warriors in the Lakes Region who are apt to be found on the runway, up on a roof, or dancing on the sidewalk.

Dave Emerson, owner of Emerson Aviation at Laconia Municipal Airport

Slipping and falling can sometimes be a hazard of winter for Dave Emerson. As he and his team take care of the runway at Laconia Municipal Airport and ready planes for lessons and flights, they’re walking on some very slippery surfaces.

“I’ll dismount a piece of equipment, and when my feet hit the ground, they can go out from under me,” he said. “The next thing you know you’re lying on your back, moaning. It’s happened to me many times. It hurts more every year.”

The 59-year-old added, “I do wear boot cleats.”

Emerson’s father, Alan, founded Emerson Aviation in 1976. The organization services customers of the airport, doing everything from selling fuel and readying airplanes for a lesson or flight to maintaining the runway and providing an air taxi service — like an Uber in the sky.

Emerson purchased the business in 2009, but he was an infant when his father launched it and 14 when he first had his hands in the operations forty-two years ago.

Tasks that take Emerson and his team members out into the weather in the winter are many.

When it snows, they help to plow the 15 acres of taxiways, ramps and runway, and they shovel walkways. “Being in a nice warm cab while you’re plowing helps tremendously,” he said, “but sometimes you have to get out to open a gate and that can mean trudging through waist-high snow, which we had about six weeks ago. That’s not a lot of fun.”

He said the workers wear appropriate clothing and take frequent breaks to get warmed up and make sure they are staying dry.

Other outdoor tasks include quality control checks on the fuel farm, where the jet fuel is stored at the airport. Emerson and his guys drain fuel from the tank and check once a day for things such as sediment, water and other contaminants.

Sometimes, preparing planes for use – called pre-flighting – also takes them outdoors.

The small single-engine planes that fly in and out of Laconia, such as four-seat Cessna 172s and Piper Cherokees, don’t have electronic ignitions like cars. “They don’t like the cold as all,” Emerson said, explaining that the planes are kept inside the hangar.

Before a lesson or flight, the team must do safety checks, looking at flight controls to ensure freedom of movement, or checking for ice and snow on the wings, for instance. This can often be done inside, but if the plane has just returned from a flight, it can also happen outside.

“If they’re outdoors … we’re still outside pre-flighting the airplane with the wind whipping. That can be a little taxing,” Emerson said.

Emerson is well-known in the region as the guy who determines when the ice comes in on Lake Winnipesaukee every year, and when it goes out each spring. Because Emerson Aviation runs the airport’s flight school, team members are up in the air several times a day.

“We have a bird’s-eye view of the entire lake,” he said. “We can see what shoreline cameras don’t see. We have a better perspective as to where the ice is located. Where it’s freezing last.”

This year, Emerson called ice-in during the week of Feb. 1. “This year, it was a week late,” he said. “Usually, the ice is in around the third week of January.”

Cody Kretschmer, owner of Lake Life Services LLC in Gilford

Cody Kretschmer and his team at Lake Life Services LLC have been building a walk-out, two-story cottage in Glendale for the past few months. In the most recent frigid weather, the work was bone-chilling because the home’s roof isn’t on yet, so there are no windows. That means there is also no heat.

The Glendale home is the first of four that Lake Life Services is building in a development called Spring Harbor Lodge. The foundation is in, the walls are framed, and the next major task is getting that roof on, which will happen in early February. Then, windows can be installed and the crew can warm the place up to 60.

“That’s the goal,” Krestschmer said.

In the meantime — as they always do in a cold-weather build — workers set up a space in the basement with a propane heater. Tools and batteries that are susceptible to the cold are kept in there, along with the plans.

“We can meet down there and take a coffee break,” Kretschmer said. “We heat our hands up when they get cold.”

Kretschmer founded his business about five years ago. He’s a general contractor who does renovations and new construction, but his work is primarily focused on Lake Winnipesaukee, and his barge services set him apart.

Lake Life Services can get anything out to island properties — from building materials, sand for beaches and furniture, to golf carts for fun and tractors for lawn care. “I delivered a Mi-Box storage unit once,” said Kretschmer, who also owns Winni Works LLC, a new entity he is growing. “The box sat there for the weekend, the client unloaded it, and I brought it back. I can take anything out there.”

Kretschmer and his crew are out on the water most of the year, in all kinds of weather, putting docks in and taking them out, doing property management, such as turning on water systems, and doing renovations from deck builds to additions.

In late fall or early spring, when the water is numbing, the men wear life vests and gear up in the best outerwear they can find. “You’re exposed to elements,” Kretschmer said.

A change of clothes is a must in terms of daily supplies, he adds. “If you get uncomfortable, you have to go home, and if you go home, you can’t work,” Kretschmer said. “We all try to be as safe as we possibly can. You get ice on the decks of the boat. You’re standing on the ice. The boat’s moving around. You have to be really careful. You don’t want to be out there alone.”

Tristan Bones, waver at Liberty Tax in Laconia

Tristan Bones stays warm on the job by dancing. He’s a waver at Liberty Tax on Union Avenue in Laconia, but he does a lot more than just wave. He calls a lot of attention to the business – which is owned by Karen Goss – by dancing on the sidewalk out front, dressed as Lady Liberty.

“I try to get peoples’ attention, so they come in and get their taxes done,” Bones said. “I dance outside and look like a goofball.”

Hip hop freestyle, Michael Jackson, rock and roll, some music from the ’90s, and a little rap stream into Bones’ ears via Pandora and his headphones, inspiring him. “I let my movement flow,” he said.

In recent weeks, when temps hovered in the teens, Bones wore gloves, held a lot of hot cups of coffee and hot chocolate and danced his heart out. “I tried my hardest to wait out the cold,” he said.

Some passersby helped resupply Bones with warm beverages. People also yell to him out their car windows. “Some are not so nice,” he said. “Some say I’m great. Some say I’m awesome. Some just scream — like Yaaaa Wooo. And there’s a lot of horn honking.”

Bones, 30, works about 25 hours a week for Liberty Tax from Jan. 15 to April 15. He’s been on the job for four seasons, and in the fall, he can’t wait for tax season to draw closer. Last year, when COVID-19 pushed the filing deadline into the summer, Bones was on duty, dancing until July. “It was crazy,” he said.

Bones only gets to go inside to warm up one or twice a day. “I just keep dancing and moving around,” he said. “It kills a lot of time. And I get to see people dancing in their cars. They might be having a bad day, and they see me, and their day gets better.”