There has been a rumor cir­cu­lat­ing for years around the Ferris cam­pus that in the bliz­zard of 1978, classes were can­celled and all of the local liquor stores sold out.

Bob Grunst, owner of Grunst Brothers Sport Center and Party Store, con­firmed that this is only a rumor.

“It was an impres­sive day, but no, we did not sell out,” said Grunst.

Grunst said they sold a lot of alco­hol that day and were very busy, but they did not sell their entire inven­tory. He said it is pos­si­ble that some of the smaller stores in town at the time sold out, but Grunst Brothers did not.

The bliz­zard of 1978 is a storm that is remem­bered vividly by many who expe­ri­enced it. The entire Great Lakes region was hit hard, with Muskegon alone receiv­ing 30 inches, a record 24-hour snow­fall, accord­ing to mid​michi​gan​weather​.com.

The Ferris cam­pus was closed that day, and some stu­dents were no doubt out buy­ing alco­hol in any fash­ion man­age­able. Grunst said that he remem­bers cus­tomers com­ing up on tobog­gan sleds and cross coun­try skis.

Ferris was not alone in hav­ing a snow day. The Michigan Daily, the University of Michigan stu­dent news­pa­per, reported that one of their only snow days in his­tory occurred dur­ing this storm.

The bliz­zard of 1978 is reported to have lasted from Jan. 26 to Jan. 27.

“They [stu­dents] couldn’t get to class, but they could make it out to get liquor…you got to have your pri­or­i­ties in order,” said Grunst sarcastically.

Snow days have been few and far between since then. As Grunst said, they had a very busy day, but the rumor of all liquor stores in town sell­ing out due to the snow day is not true.