Sharing Memories Of The Road With Frances Warner
By Cookie Steponaitis
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On April 1, 2014 Frances Warner stepped down from a position he had held and loved for over forty years. Francis who is retiring as Road Commissioner for the Town of Waltham has driven the thirteen miles of road within the town more than any other resident in recent history. “I started in this business right after I got out of the service,” shared Francis, “and I went to work for the Town of Charlotte Road Commissioner and then eventually I left to drive tractor trailer trucks but I always loved working with
heavy equipment and being out of doors.” Francis, with his own equipment that includes a dump truck, backhoe, bulldozer and grader has been responsible for snowplowing, sanding, ditching and road repair for the Town of Waltham for close to forty-five years. While the official baton has been passed to the new commissioner Mike Merrigan, Francis began working with Merrigan last year and told the Town Selectboard a year ahead of his plan to retire. “I am proud of the fact that I have always had a good working relationship with the Town Selectboard,” commented Francis. “I worked hard to carry out their plans and to always stay in budget.” Francis remarked that the paved roads in Waltham are in remarkably good shape now and feels he is handing off a town with good roads. “South Middlebrook Road is slated to be paved this summer,” remarked Francis, “and that will be a benefit too.”
While Francis realizes that most people are not aware of his job most of the time he shared with this reporter the many calls for trees, downed wires or other emergencies that he simply handled without direction. “People don’t realize what gets done in this job besides the big snow storms and plowing,” Francis remarked. “During the busiest of storms we were often out for eighteen-twenty two hours and then after a two hour nap we were back at it again. My brother Junior helped me a lot and some nights we would have to get creative to get to people. I recall backing the huge dump truck up some roads to sand a few feet and then move forward and reverse again to get traction and go up a few more feet. Some storms we had to do entire roads that way.” Francis grinned when asked if he will miss the job and simply said, “No. I might take a cup of hot coffee out to the new guy this winter but it will be quite nice to sleep and not have to watch the inches and then go out.”
While Francis has sold a lot of his equipment he continues to work part time with his backhoe and trusty companion Jake who is a ten year old yellow lab. The Waltham Town Selectboard thanked Francis Warner in a recent letter and wrote in part, “The people of Waltham wish to thank you for your many years of keeping our roads drivable. How you kept on the road in the middle of the night in the middle of a snowstorm we will never know.” Thank you Francis Warner and to your colleagues who hold road commissioner positions in other small towns and areas of Vermont our sincere thanks. It is the devotion of people like you that make Addison County a safe and caring place to love. The Valley Voice readers will be on the lookout for Francis and Jake on some backhoe jobs.