Feb 15, 2007 By Josh Krysak 4 min read

As a steady snow fell across the region Wednesday, sweethearts across the area awaited that special something from that special someone. And with emergency personnel cautioning motorists to stay off the roads Wednesday morning because of the winter storm hammering the area, some of those longing for that special delivery had to wait a little longer.

Florists in Fayette County battled the dangerous driving conditions to make sure those waiting would not go without on Valentine’s Day.

Steve Neubauer, owner of Neubauer’s Flowers in Uniontown, along with 14 deliverymen, were busy warming their vans and sport utility vehicles early Wednesday.

Neubauer, along with his crew and dozens of other florists and delivery personnel across the county, refused to let the poor driving weather impede the busiest day of the year for the flower business: Valentine’s Day.

“It is the busiest day of the year for us as far as deliveries,” Neubauer said, as he worked his way down a snow-covered street in his Ford Expedition. “But it is the day before Valentine’s Day that is our busiest order day of the year.”

Neubauer said on a typical Valentine’s Day, his flower shop will do eight to 13 times a normal day’s business and that he also adds extra delivery personnel to help get bouquets to his customers.

Neubauer said he decided Tuesday night that he needed to limit out-of-town deliveries because of the weather but said Wednesday that he still was taking in-town deliveries throughout the day.

“The side streets are treacherous, but love is snow-blind,” Neubauer said, noting the weather has slowed his deliveries.

Neubauer said he keeps a diary of his holiday sales and noted that he checked back as far as 1999 and could not find a Valentine’s Day as snowy.

“We have dealt with the cold a lot but not the snow,” Neubauer said.

Neubauer noted one benefit to Wednesday’s weather.

“Every house we went to, people were home, so that was a plus,” Neubauer said.

At Masontown’s Floral Basket, owner Debbie Sullenberger said she also was busy Wednesday trying to juggle her large load of deliveries with the bad road conditions.

“We are getting them out but we are slowed down,” Sullenberger said, adding that her two deliverymen cover Fayette and Greene counties from Carmichaels to Brownsville.

Kendall Floral Co. in Point Marion decided to limit deliveries to downtown Point Marion after several deliveries on snowy roads in Greene County Wednesday morning.

“The roads were just getting too dangerous, so we cut them off,” employee Neila Vernon said.

Vernon said Kendall began warning customers Tuesday that inclement weather could restrict deliveries on Wednesday and said that as a result the walk-in traffic has been steady at the shop throughout the day.

Cindy Lizza, owner Cindy’s Florist in Connellsville, said she had to double her delivery personnel from four to eight but added that the weather hadn’t slowed her business one bit.

“We had 26 deliveries in Uniontown, 64 in Connellsville and more than 20 in Mount Pleasant and we have had no problems,” Lizza said.

Florists were not the only business struggling to combat the winter weather, as area restaurants experienced numerous cancellations of Valentine’s Day dinner reservations.

At the Coal Barron in Menallen Township, employees said 15 reservations had been canceled as of 5 p.m.

At Caleigh’s restaurant in Uniontown, chef Joe Carei said that a lot of his reservations were from people living close to the restaurant, reducing cancellations. He added they were filling seats Wednesday evening.

Kieran McVey, chef and owner of the Thompson House Restaurant in Brownsville, said his business was decimated by the wintry weather, with about 75 percent of his reservations for Wednesday evening canceling.

McVey said he placed a large order earlier in the week to have the food on hand and is now stuck with it.

“I guess it is my fault for not watching the weather more closely,” McVey said.

He did note that most of those who canceled Wednesday did reschedule for another night at the restaurant.