The mailman has got nothing on Timmy Clark.

For 33 years he’s owned Timmy’s Grocery on Court Street in Victoria, and in all that time, weather has never kept him from opening the store.

“It’s been rough,” he admits. “No electricity, I’m here. I’m had two generators running. I don’t believe in closing.”

Well, that’s not quite true. He does close down for Christmas.

Otherwise … “I can’t do sitting at the house looking at the walls,” he said. “I’d rather make some money and help somebody. People want stuff. Some people need things.”

Open and they shall come, he said.

“I’ve had people call me from Blackstone and drive down and get coffee,” he said.

He lives three miles from his store, but leaves early enough that no one else is on the road, so he has the advantage of making his own tracks. Even so, “I’d walk here if I had to.”

His customers are grateful, he said.

“I’ve had a lot of people thank me for being open,” Clark said. “I had people Friday and Saturday thank me for being open.”

Clark said during a storm customers often purchase the usual staple items — gas, milk, bread. “They’re nervous,” he said. “They’re scared.”

Customer service is important and so is taking care of his customer base, Clark said. “And I want to take care of them.”

Unofficial figures from the National Weather Service say the weekend storm dumped 8 inches of snow on Lunenburg, 9.4-10 inches on Prince Edward County, and 11-15 inches on Cumberland.

Fortunately, the storm was mostly snow with little sleet with strong winds – meaning that there was no heavy buildup of ice to bring down tree limbs onto power lines and block roads. That means there were no power outages and no need for shelters to open in the region.

Clark and his wife Linda worked 14 hours Friday and Saturday. They manned the store alone because they didn’t want any of their employees run the chance of getting hurt coming in.

Sure it was bad, Clark said, but nothing like the storm from around the turn of the century that left the area without power for two weeks.

In that storm, he said, Timmy’s, compliments of one of Clark’s friends jerry-rigging a generator, was the only store in three counties able to pump gas. The line snaked for three blocks. To keep people in their vehicles, Clark pumped himself. His children helped out

“I believe people need things, too,” he said. “I just feel like service is everything … It’s more than running a business. It’s longevity. It’s service. I think they need it.”