ST. FRANCISVILLE - Children in a St. Francisville neighborhood spent the day playing in a rare icy snowfall on the coldest Fat Tuesday in history, while the ice storm kept the town in its grip.

"They woke up saying it's snowing y'all! It's snowing wake up, wake up
very excited," said Mandy Maxwell, a parent.

But as the children played in the snow, a huge Department of Transportation bulldozer was removing snow from the bridge on Highway 61.

And a worker was using a blow torch to melt the ice in the parking lot of the Audubon Supermarket that was re-opening after closing on Monday.

But the Francis Smokehouse and Specialty Meats stayed closed for a second day in a row.

"Everything is still kinda hard on the ground. And the road conditions were not what we wanted," said Gregory Martinez, a business owner.

Martinez also says he didn't want to put is workers in danger of trying to come to work.

"We decided to close down yesterday and today, just so we won't jeopardize the safety of our employees. it wasn't worth it," said Martinez.

The Audubon Bridge between St. Francisville and New Roads has remained close since Sunday, and the power never went out on Monday.