Nila Harris, columnist
By Nila Harris
When “Snowmageddon” hit on Sunday, January 5, dropping up to 10 inches of snow across the county, many were not quite prepared for the problems that accompanied the white stuff.
The snow, along with 1 to 2 inches of ice, caused several to become trapped in their homes, dependent on the county road department to clear the roads and streets.
Out of the misery came several “Good Samaritans” helping people in need.
The term “Good Samaritan” comes from the Bible. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus tells his disciples that they are to love God and to love others, then proceeded to tell them a parable.
In his story, Jesus tells of a Jewish man stripped, beaten, and left for dead. A priest and a Levite (another religious leader) saw the man and crossed to the other side of the road. But a Samaritan, (part of a group of people from Samaria who were hated by and hated the Jews), cleaned his wounds, took him to a nearby inn and paid the innkeeper for the man’s care. He even told that he would pay any additional costs incurred.
The Samaritan took care of the hurt man without looking for repayment, using his personal time and resources.
The Good Samaritans in our community have come in many forms — family, neighbors and even strangers reaching out to people in need, using their personal time and resources.
And I realize that many individuals do snow removal for their livelihood and am by no means faulting anyone for doing that. There are also people who have stepped up that I’m not aware of — just because I don’t know about you, doesn’t mean someone isn’t blessed by your actions!
Several people on the Facebook page “Pendleton County Community Friends and Neighbors” have extolled the efforts of a man named Brad Carroll. Carroll posted his phone number on the page, and said that if anyone needed help, call, and he would try to be there.
He has given rides, and shoveled sidewalks, driveways and around cars for no fee.
Carroll expressed gratitude to people who assisted him, even telling how some people he helped, paid it forward to help others.
The road department workers, along with Judge Executive David Fields and Magistrates Darrin Gregg and Joshua Plummer, spent countless hours clearing roads. Road supervisor Charlie Purdy not only worked diligently to make the roads safe, but also made sure that his workers had breaks and were able to go home to get dinner before coming out and doing it all over again.
“The struggles that the men have been going through have been hard, but they see them through until they are finished with whatever tasks are at hand, and to do whatever the task may be,” said Sharon Purdy, Charlie’s wife.
Gregg, who “had the privilege and honor to ride with a county road worker,” told how the man was tired and disgusted after getting stuck and having to depend on a neighbor to pull them out.
“As a magistrate, I felt like it was my obligation to ride with some of the men. So, I asked the driver, ‘Let me give you a break so you can relax and collect your thoughts.’ I drove and plowed a couple of roads for him,” Gregg said.
Plummer stated that “Charlie Purdy and all our road department drivers and our mechanics need medals for all of the nonstop work they provided to our county. I think they did five 16-hour days. All to do it again and again if needed.
“People see them driving down the road, but they don’t see what happens when these trucks and plows break. It’s full, hands-on, laying on your back in puddles of cold, icy water, oil and hydraulic fluid — wrenching, fabricating new parts to get by, because replacements aren’t readily available.”
Plummer, who rode with Fields, pushing snow and pulling out plow trucks, saw many neighbors helping neighbors. He said he is thankful for Mike Gilkison, Jeremy Cox, and Dennis Moneyhon who “acted without hesitation to use their tractors to get county road trucks back up and moving.”
The Lock Road Neighbors of Butler are very appreciative of how neighbor Elmer Utz clears off the driveways for several households near him.
“You cannot beat Elmer Utz when it comes to cleaning snow for his neighbors!” stated Daryle Harris.
Other neighbors came to the rescue to scrape driveways. Cindy Fitzpatrick is thankful Jim Wilson plowed her mom and sister’s driveways.
Sheila Myrick said, “We are blessed!” when talking about how Steve Taylor helped people get out of their driveways on Concord-Caddo Road.
Phil and Carrie Bolen helped neighbors Jim and Janie Tomlinson for two nights, shoveling a path from their back door to their car. Phil even came back the next day and cleaned off their car.
Angela Peluso explained how Mike Schaller “kept our entire road cleared and even cleaned up some driveways.” She said that another neighbor, Ronnie Spegal, did the same thing and does it every year. We are “very thankful for their help and kindness.”
Family pitches in to help each other and to help additional people. Charity Oldendick told how her dad, Danny Sharp, “has been cleaning out Kennedy Ridge and all the driveways for hours every day with his tractor.”
He helped dig and pull out stuck vehicles, including a snowplow! Chevonna Simpson’s neighbor Rick Balzer “plowed our entire road (Middleton Road), dug out my truck, and hand delivered all mail/packages that our mail lady was attempting to deliver.”
Deanna Browning was especially thankful to Jason Thomas, who helped them in their time of need.
After coming back from a post-op surgery appointment, Browning’s vehicle got stuck trying to get in their driveway. Thomas saw their predicament and promptly pulled them out and scraped their driveway.
Her son-in-law Adam Ramsey came the next day and cleaned their entire driveway.
“Brian Cahill was great in this area (Highway 159) cleaning out neighbors’ driveways,” said Keith Smith.
And good deeds were noticed by Jeanna Dennis, Bonita Bonar and B.J. Mullikin when they saw neighbor Barry Hisel using a snow blower to clear off sidewalks and driveways.
Mullikan stated, “He stopped to help Brennan (her son), who was shoveling Wayne’s (another neighbor) driveway. I’m pretty sure he’s also responsible for clearing the end of my driveway this morning, too.”
Mary McDowell posted on Facebook how she and her husband were looking for someone with a snowplow to clear their driveway.
When McDowell got up and looked out the window, she was pleasantly surprised to find that her neighbor, Mr. Lucas, had cleared her driveway.
Later, McDowell’s granddaughter Bambi Yost shoveled additional snow.
“It is all open now, thanks to the both of them for helping two seniors out,” McDowell said.
Lisa Osterlind sums it up when talking about seeing people helping others. “Makes you feel good.”