Letter: A thank you to good samaritans in McBride
Dear Mr. Hall,
I just wanted to reach out to praise the incredibly kind and helpful people of the McBride area and felt your newspaper might be the best way to let them know how special they are and how much they are truly appreciated.
Last month we were traveling to our BC home 5-hours’ drive west of McBride on highway 16. We had already logged a 5-hour drive from the east after visiting family in Alberta. “We” included myself, my wife and my 83 year old mother-in-law who is struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. At about 6:00 in the evening as we approached McBride, I noticed a very odd vibration coming from our tough, but ancient pickup truck. When I pulled onto the main street in downtown McBride to check the vehicle for mechanical issues, I discovered that two of the five studs on a rear wheel had snapped off. Bad news for sure since we were only half way home on a Saturday night with a fragile senior in the back seat and every business for miles around closed until Monday morning.
I walked across the street to ask a smiling gentleman, who identified himself as Craig Arnold, if he knew of any auto mechanics in town that we might impose on. I hated to interrupt him as he was admiring a local couple’s new baby. Without hesitation Craig whipped out his cell phone and started making calls. He waved over several other local folks as they passed by to ask if they had any ideas and every person had suggestions. When those things didn’t pan out, he said, “Don’t you worry, we won’t leave you stranded.”
I could see a light bulb go off, and he said, “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” Craig dashed across the street to a parts and supply retailer called Horseshoe Lake Ventures. I had already been there and noticed they were closed for the day, but Craig went around to the back and found one of the employees inside. That second gentleman was Jesse Steiner. What a Good Samaritan Jesse turned out to be; the second one we’d met in McBride that night.
Jesse pulled out his phone and started making calls too, lots of calls to try to locate parts that would work. He eventually connected with the manager of Lordco Auto Parts in Valemount and asked her to open up her store just to help us out. (Thanks Tori!) Then Jesse drove 45-minutes each way to go get the parts for us, since we had no safe vehicle. That’s not the end of it. When Jesse got back about 9:30, he had us follow him a couple of miles to his boss’s shop. We had barely made it through the garage door when that rear wheel literally broke off. Talk about a night of miracles.
Jesse got us all fixed and good to go in short order. He did not even want to accept any money for his troubles, not to mention a lost Saturday night, but we insisted. We will never forget these acts of kindness from every person we encountered, all of them willing to go out of their way to help strangers in need. Thank you all so very much!
Dennis Douda
Fort Fraser, B.C.
