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When his boots froze, he knew it was no ordinary cold snap

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Dennis Winship says he's grateful that city leaders were able make the warming shelter a reality. (Rochester Voice photos)

ROCHESTER - Dennis Winship relaxes on blankets on a portable double cot in the warming station at the Rochester Community Center and recalls that moment last Thursday that he knew that the bone-chilling cold temperatures the area was seeing might become more than an inconvenience.

"I got up in the morning and I couldn't get my boots on because they were frozen stiff," he said calmly on Wednesday, almost as if he couldn't believe it. "I had to get in the car and heat it up, and it still took hours before I could get them on."

Snacks are abundant spread out on tables at the warming center, with many local markets and restaurants donating food to the shelter residents.

The 60-year-old disabled American veteran said he's been living on a friend's property inside a make-shift shelter fashioned from two temporary canvas and steel structures normally seen housing cars and campers.

"I put them together facing each other and then added more canvas and other insulation," he said, adding he used a propane ceramic heater to get some heat into his living quarters.

But when the wind chill got down around -20 degrees and the propane heater and all the insulation, fleece clothing, blankets and canvas in the world couldn't keep him warm, he began to get a little worried.

"One morning I woke up and my water bottle was frozen," he mused affably. "I had to warm it up in my car; even with the heat on in the car it was two hours before I could take a drink."

Winship said he spends his days staying warm at Rochester Tri-City Coop, a facility to help those in need, but they close down in the afternoon. He said he was happy when he learned that several folks at the co-op, along with Rochester Fire Chief Mark Klose and other city leaders and nonprofits had put together the warming shelter program.

"I have to thank the fire chief and others at the co-op, and city leaders for making this happen," he said.

Winship said his reason for homelessness is purely financial, adding "It's not much of a disability check."

And as easy going and centered as Winship is, he also has a stubborn side, too, declaring that if the warming center hadn't opened like it did, he wouldn't have gone begging anyone for shelter.

"I would've toughed it out," he said.

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