02/02/2003

For Lee Mogavero, the blizzard morphed into a week-long party. Imagine Gilligan's Island without the palm trees.

Mogavero, along with nearly 100 other refugees, stumbled into Florio's on Hospital Street -- now the Corner Grill -- during the peak of the storm and didn't leave until the streets were cleared a week later.

"Inside, there were wall-to-wall people," he wrote. "The owner, Hank Florio, was cooking for all. And at no charge. All week, no charge.

"At 9 p.m. [on Feb. 6], a man came in and told us there were people inside their automobiles on Point Street. A group of us went outside and found two people freezing in their cars. We managed to bring them back to Florio's. Hank made them his chicken soup.

'We also made trips to Rhode Island Hospital for prescriptions for some of the older and sickly people.

"We ate, slept, danced, played cards, talked and just about everything else. By the end of the week, Mr. Florio was completely out of food. The roads were getting cleared and away we went.

"To this day, I thank God for men like Hank Florio. Always there and always helping."

Lee Mogavero

70 Cedar Pond Drive

Warwick