We are finally getting a break from the snow. ... at least at the time I am writing this article.

It gives me the opportunity to thank the Conquest Highway Department for doing a good job keeping our roads cleared and safe. I think Mark Shafer and his gang are the best in the business. Yes, I think so because I get so many compliments from our residents and sometimes just people I run into that travel our roads.

But I believe Conquest has been blessed over the many years with very good highway supervisors, who then hire good highway workers - and that is what breeds a good highway department.

We have had some very good ones over the years. Mark Shafer, Jerald Vanhorn, Loren Gould, Ross Shafer, Burrell Rathburn, Carl Terwilliger are some that I can remember in my 50 years living in Conquest. The most telling thing that makes Conquest a successful highway department is they have all been hands on. These guys usually trained their replacement.

They plowed and winged the roads. They made dirt roads and then paved them. They dug the ditches, took care of the landfill and mowed the roadsides.

They mow the cemetery, cut brush and take care of things at our park.

We normally complain when our mailbox gets it or our yard gets torn up by the plow, but we very seldom praise the fine work they do accomplish.

And with all the talk about consolidation, all the little extra things that these guys do and have done will still need to get done by someone that is as hands-on as our highway supervisors current and past.

So when you run into these guys, let them know you give thanks for what they do. Our current staff is Mark Shafer, Loren Gould, Norm Howell and John Smith.

Charles Knapp is the town of Conquest supervisor