OLATHE, Kan. — Snow plow drivers have been busy the last couple of days in Kansas City—so busy that a local company had to get extra help from another state.
Paul Zervopoulos is one of eight drivers who came to KC from a small town east of Madison. They were on a mission to help remove snow from grocery stores and other essential businesses.
It all started a couple of weeks ago.
“We got a call Thursday night around 5 p.m. asking, ‘What are you doing this weekend?’ My response was, ‘Why?’” Zervopoulos recalled, remembering the day he decided to embark on the journey.
The reason for the call was the major snowstorm that was about to hit the Kansas City area.
“I said, ‘Absolutely.’”
It was a long road: Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. It was supposed to be a 7-hour drive—but it turned into 12.
“We knew what we were driving into. You could see the clouds and everything,” Zervopoulos said. “Since we left, I’ve put on about 3,200 miles.”
The hotel in Olathe, where the drivers were staying, got lucky.
“We have a big parking lot, and cars were stuck in there. So, we were calling people left and right,” said La Quinta Inn Manager Ash Desai.
After many frustrated calls, the solution came from his guests.
“I caught one of them and said, ‘Hey, before you guys go, would you help me out and just do a quick scoop?’”
The group cleaned the hotel’s parking lot—and got free rooms in exchange.
They also supported local snow plow drivers.
“We were at locations that required us to be there for small triggers, like 1 inch. So, once 1 inch accumulates, it has to be cleaned. Without them coming in, those locations would not have been manageable,” said Austin Buso, owner and operator of AB Lawn Care and Snow Removal.
He says it would have been hard to be as efficient as they were without the extra help.
“No way. There’s no way,” Buso said.
A partnership they hope to repeat to move mountains… of snow.
“We’re willing to help out those who need it, wherever they’re at,” Zervopoulos said.
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