A historic snowstorm dumped more than 10 inches of snow across the Pittsburgh area on Sunday January 25, marking the snowiest day in 16 years. Wedding guests who had traveled to celebrate their friend’s special day found themselves completely snowed in at the Hampton Inn in North Huntingdon Township, Pennsylvania with their cars buried and roads impassable. Benjamin Pallack had made the nine hour drive from Albany New York to attend his close friend’s wedding, but after seeing the mounting snow he decided he was not going to risk the grueling journey home through what he called an arguably historic weather event. Manager Katie Baldassaro told local station WPXI that 40 of the hotel’s 102 rooms were occupied by stranded guests, and in her 34 year hotel career it marked the first day she had never checked a single person into the hotel.
Rather than leaving guests to fend for themselves, nine staff members including Brandon Leone volunteered to stay several nights at the hotel to take care of everyone. Baldassaro felt bad that so many guests were stuck, so she decided to cook for everyone and prepared pizza and wraps for them to enjoy while they watched the snow climb above the tires on their cars. The manager said they were actually having a blast because this situation felt like old times when people actually talked to each other, and Leone added that the staff even packed sleds planning to have some fun because everyone was in this together. Despite his unplanned extended stay, Pallack made it clear that he did not regret traveling before the snowstorm to witness his friend’s wonderful ceremony, insisting he would do it all over again because he was not going to miss that special moment.
