MOKELUMNE HILL, Calif. — With the snow now melted along Highway 49 through much of Calaveras County, it’s back to business for Mandie Hollingsworth, owner of a hair salon in Mokelumne Hill.
"We are a full-service salon. We have four hairstylists, two massage therapists and an esthetician," said Hollingsworth while preparing to dye a client's hair Thursday. "Monday was not a normal day."
Days ago her small business, “Hair Haven” turned into a safe haven. When a school bus got stuck traveling through a rare blizzard on Highway 26, just west of the small business, Hollingsworth knew she had to step up.
"Monday was kind of a 'part day,' people got snowed out," said Hollingsworth. "But then once we saw the snow coming down and people starting to get pulled over, we were like, 'OK, we're just going to stay open.'"
Instead of closing, Hollingsworth gave out hot chocolate and coffee while offering a warm place for students to wait.
"I didn't really think twice about it," said Hollingsworth. "It wasn't something that I wouldn't want someone to do for my kid."
But it wasn’t just students getting stuck.
"One of my friends was coming from Jackson to pick up her grandson, and she could not make it. She had to get a ride the rest of the way, so she was stranded," said Hollingsworth. "And then shortly after that, more and more people started flooding in with nowhere to go."
For JoAnna Gill-Foster, who moved to the area and joined the salon as a stylist five months ago, seeing her colleague spring into action reminded her of why she moved to the small town of around 484 people.
"It was really meaningful. People were worried about their kids that were stuck up the hill," said Gill-Foster. " To see every single person around here kind of spring together, make sure people were warm, had water and they were safe and not on the road was really awesome to see. And it was part of why we moved here."
The ordeal left Gill-Foster with a welcoming example of community and Hollingsworth with a message.
"Just prepare for the unpredictable that way you're not stuck," said Hollingsworth. "I guess you could always know that you can pop into Hair Haven."
Watch more local stories from ABC10: Northern California power outages during snow storm has Amador County residents scrambling
