Snow has arrived to blanket the southeast for another season, and the RM Reciprocity has already seen a good share of the white stuff.

"I think we've probably gotten between 2 and 4 inches, a good, solid cover," said Reeve Alan Arthur, noting that it hasn't had a huge impact yet.

"On Saturday the surface roads were, of course, very slippery. However, we got them cleaned off and they dried out. Other than that, not much effect. Everybody was hoping that we wouldn't get winter for another few days, but I think we got it early this year."

Grain farmers in the region have been finished for a bit, and there was plenty of time for the fall work. Cattle producers are working to get the livestock home, making arrangements for sales and so forth.

"It's early in the year, but you respond to the season. It looks like winter, and I guess we're going to act like it's winter. You can't do anything else," Arthur stated.

When it comes to their plans for keeping up with the snow, it looks like they will just take it as it comes.

"What we do is, when we have a snowfall, we put the graders out and clean all the designated roads, which are most of the roads in our municipalities. There really is no schedule, we just get to it and do it. School bus routes take a bit of a priority, and the main travel routes are cleaned first, but that's a decision made according to the snowfall and the timing on where it comes."

"Generally it isn't a problem until closer to Christmas," he added.

Arthur had been attending the mid-term SARM convention as well, and he expressed that there were great, informative and interesting speakers, as well as an impressive attendance.