Shields Outdoor

About Shields Outdoor

By four in the morning the steep side streets of Struthers are the only thing moving in the valley — porch lights, hard cold air, snow squeaking under the tires. Shields Outdoor is up in that hour, plowing drives and lots, opening walkways, spreading salt on the pitched approaches where a car would otherwise think twice. Snow comes into the Mahoning Valley in a hurry off the tail of the lake, and a drive that was clear at midnight often needs a second visit before daylight. Doing it right means going back, taking the width all the way out, and leaving pavement showing. The measure of a night like that is how ordinary the morning gets to be.