"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

The U.S. Postal Service motto certainly rang true Friday in Greeneville, as snowfall mixed with bone-chilling wind conditions did not deter postal workers such as Brad Adams from completing their mail delivery duties.

The Greeneville area received a dusting of snowfall Friday morning that stuck on the ground as temperatures remained near or below freezing.

Holiday shoppers and others braving the elements today can expect sunny skies, with a high temperature near 42 degrees, and a west wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Adams has about 700 houses and businesses on his route, which covers a section of Tusculum Boulevard near Greeneville High School, and nearby side streets.

Adams was snugly dressed in a Postal Service jacket, gloves and a hat with warm ear flaps. A Post Office veteran of nearly eight years, he was undeterred by the chilly temperatures and cutting wind.

"I enjoy it. It's just a different element that helps kick in the holiday spirit. I'm just a kid again, out in the snow," Adams said with a hint of a smile.

He switched to his winter gear Friday from rain gear worn earlier in the week, when heavy rains and high winds hit Greene County.

"Rain, sleet and snow, the mail must go through," he said. "Yesterday I had all my rain gear on. Today, I got all my warm gear on."

Snow doesn't bother Adams "unless it's sticking to the road and it's ice, but right now, it's kicking in the holiday spirit," he said. "It makes you feel like Christmas."

John Price, otherwise known throughout the community as "The Hot Dog Man," didn't let the chilly temperatures and wind keep him from his appointed rounds either.

A thoroughly bundled-up Price braved the elements Friday on the sidewalk in front of Belk, in the Greeneville Commons.

Despite the cold, customers were buying hot dogs at his Top Dog Hot Dog stand, partially sheltered under the Belk awning.

Price was in a poetic frame of mind.

"Like the postman, rain nor sleet nor snow shall keep me from going where the people go," he said.

He was wearing a warm knit cap covered by a hoodie pullover.

Beneath the hoodie, Price said he was wearing four layers of clothing, insulated socks and warm boots. He kept a heavier jacket and a scarf knitted by his daughter nearby as a backup.

"So far, so good," Price said. "I dress to be out in it all day. That's how I survive it. This is my office."

Friday's snowfall may serve as a timely reminder for holiday procrastinators, Price said.

"With the snow, people are going to be shocked into thinking 'Tuesday really is Christmas.' It will bring them back to reality," he said.

"People may not show up for work, but they will go shopping," Price added.

Among the shoppers Friday at Greeneville Commons were others who work outside in all kinds of weather.

Robert Page, an employee of the heating and cooling company Jones Lang LaSalle, looked on the bright side of the snowfall.

"It makes you feel a little like Christmas," he said. "It's cold when you're out there."

Page, of Jonesborough, said he's hoping for more frigid weather.

"I think it should get colder. I think it should go below zero," he said.

"I'm in the heating and cooling business."

Shoppers at Greeneville Commons had mixed opinions about Friday's snowfall, the first of the season in Greeneville though not the first for the county.

"It's pretty, but I wish it would go away because I don't like the cold," said Marsha Thomas, of Chuckey.

Thomas noted that at least the snow came on an appropriate day.

"I guess it's fitting for the first day of winter -- though not really," she said. "I wish it would go away, but I guess I live in the wrong area if I don't like the cold."

Greg Campbell was just getting his Christmas shopping started on Friday.

"It doesn't bother me at all," he said. "I haven't thought about it."

The Nashville native has lived in Greeneville for several years. He was unfazed by Friday's chilly temperatures.

"Right now, it's nothing to me," he said.

Jesse Gosnell, 87, is a lifelong resident of Viking Mountain Road. About one inch of snow fell in his neighborhood on Friday morning, Gosnell said in a telephone interview.

It's not the first snowfall of the season on Viking Mountain. Gosnell said a similar amount of snow fell about a month ago, but melted quickly.

Despite living in a higher elevation, Gosnell is no fan of snow.

"I hate it. It causes wrecks, and you can't get to work," he said.

The wind "was blowing pretty hard" Friday morning on Viking Mountain, Gosnell said. He said he recalls a time when the snowfall on Viking Mountain was far more frequent.

"We used to have a lot of big snows. Viking Mountain had a lot of snows when it didn't snow [in Greeneville]," Gosnell said.

A technician at the University of Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center on East Allens Bridge Road said Friday that a minimal amount of snow fell at the center.

"We just got a trace. It's not measurable here," Wayne Gibson said.