Sweet Relief From Sandy in Downtown Chester

The lights were on, the water was running and the plugs were ready for devices and the Wi-Fi password was posted on the wall.

Oh, and the delicious contest winning cupcakes were still being sold.

At the Sweet Spot Bake Shoppe in Chester, owner Cheryl Burger was letting residents know they could make themselves at home as the store was spared during the fury of the storm.

“We were lucky, we never lost power,” Burger said.

And it was with their generous offer of goodies beyond confections that drove many people to the Sweet Spot.

“I heard from you that you were going to be here and they had power,” said Mike Tomasco.

Tomasco, who is a write-in candidate for the Chester Consolidated School system board of education, had come with his wife and three boys to the shop on Thursday.

Tomasco was one of dozens of residents who came in and out of the store throughout the day. Some remarked on the lights and running water, most left with a bag sweet treats but all had a story about Hurricane Sandy to share.

Sherry and Howard Jacobsen were there for a snack on their way to Wegman’s in search of ice.

“We drove around for three hours yesterday and didn’t find any,” Howard Jacobsen said.

The couple was in high spirits, with a good sense of humor about the situation they were in.

“Its cold in the house,” Howard Jacobsen said. “But she has been boiling water and bringing it into different rooms in the house.”

Sherry Jacobsen said that neighbors asked how she had heat when they came over to visit.

But not all was going smoothly, Sherry had been teasing Howard about the spelunker’s light he had strapped to his head to be ready when the power went out.

“She made fun of me,” Howard Jacobsen said. “But I was a boy scout and I always want to be prepared. And once the power went out, she started wearing it all over the house. And when she doesn’t wear it, she carries it around so I don’t even have it.”

The Jacobsens have been residents of Chester for 11 years, moving there from Randolph where Sherry is a teacher. Howard Jacobsen said he saw a flash out his window just before the lights went out on 7 p.m. on Monday night.

“Then all our heat disappeared,” Howard Jacobsen said.

Through the aftermath of the storm, the Jacobsens praised the business community of Chester for being there for its residents.

“Marilyn’s cafe has been terrific,” Sherry Jacobsen said. “The people are terrific. They filled up our booth with extra people we met that we didn’t even know. This is what community should be and people should embrace it.”

Experiences with Hurricane Sandy seem to have as many variations as there are cupcakes on display at the Sweet Spot.

Megan Delia and Emma Boyd were some of the luckier ones. Delia never lost power during the storm and Boyd was over visiting the morning after losing power.

“I slept through the night and came over the next day,” Boyd said.

The duo had walked down to the shop to “get out of the house.”

According to Delia, her house had become a refugee camp of sorts for friends without power in the area.

“My brother is a couple of years older than me and he has like 20 friends over,” Delia said.

Their plans for the afternoon didn’t vary much from their plan for the previous three days.

“We’ve been watching TV and eating,” Delia said. “And eating. All day. Every day.”

Shari Weinerman, who split the four children she shares with husband Sean between her parents and her in-laws while the power was out, was waiting for a locksmith to get her back into her house.

“I don’t have a key. I only go in through the garage and with no power the door doesn’t work,” Weinerman said.

The locksmith’s arrival was another movement in symphony of discord that was playing at the Weinerman residence from the weekend.

“My husband went to the Giants game in Dallas before the storm. And I strongly did not want him to go. It was for business, he was meeting clients, but I didn’t want him to go,” Weinerman said. “This makes him sound like a jerk, but he’s not. He is a great guy.”

Weinerman said she had an inkling the storm might be bad when she saw the newspaper with the Frankenstorm headline her husband had left in the car to hide from her. But when the storm devastated the area, Weinerman said her husband moved heaven and earth to get home.

“He booked and cancelled four flights and actually had rented a car and was driving it from Dallas when I told him to turn around,” Weinerman said. “I can live without you for a couple of days, I told him. Not an eternity.”

Weinerman said her husband ended up taking a flight into Boston where he rented a car and headed for home.

“But before he did he stopped and bought a generator and gas and all of the wires he needed to hook it up,” Weinerman said. “He arrived home at 10 p.m. last night.”

Weinerman was coordinating with her family from the Sweet Spot, as friends were coming to help hook up the generator and she was looking forward to reuniting her family later Thursday evening.

“Especially the baby,” Weinerman said. “I can’t be away from him too long.”