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Dear
friends in Logan County,
We wanted to write to express our
appreciation to some very wonderful residents of Logan County.
On July 12 we were en route to St.
Louis to catch a flight to Fort Lauderdale and eventually a cruise
to the Caribbean. After already encountering a canceled flight in
Bloomington, we were faced with a broken serpentine belt just
outside of Atlanta, Ill. We were glad to be directed to the local
NAPA store and its very generous and helpful owner, who had the part
we needed and the willingness to help some desperate strangers find
someone to install it on a Saturday when most service centers were
closed.
The first helpful Atlanta, Ill.,
residents were Gil and his son Kendall. They willingly worked for
over an hour, covered in sweat and oil with cuts over their hands in
an attempt to install the belt. As we stood by, wishing we could
help too but knowing little about cars, one helpful NAPA store
customer after another stopped to help get us on the road. The owner
of the NAPA store stayed open late and supplied tools we needed at
no charge.
[to top of second column in
this letter]
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Gil and Kendall stuck with us too, and
soon we had one person after another trying to help us forlorn
strangers get back on the road. These good Samaritans of Atlanta
stood and worked in the heat of midday, covered in oil and sweat
with hands cut and bleeding, to help out someone they had never met
before. After at least a couple of hours, one gentleman who was
familiar with our mechanical need happened upon the situation and
instructed one fellow to hold right here, and he gave a tug there,
and the belt was right in place!
We tried our best to pay our helpers,
but to no avail. Not one would accept payment for fixing our car and
getting us on the road to our vacation.
In trying to say "thank you" in a small
way, we are writing to your newspaper to let them know that we so
much appreciate their kindness to strangers and hope that someday we
can extend that same type of kindness to someone in need.
Sincerely,
Bill and Marilyn Bates
Washington,
Ill.
(posted
8-22-03)
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