Stories I can Handle

By Sun Advocate

One of the worst things that can befall any traveler is to have their vehicle break down when they are 800 miles from home and in the Southern Utah desert, especially when they are towing a large camp trailer.
Early in the morning in late September that’s exactly what happened to Lowell Young of Mariposa, Calif. near the summit of the San Rafael Swell heading home on Interstate 70. As luck would have it he was able to get a weak signal on his cell phone and finally arranged to have his rig towed into Price, where the closest Dodge dealer was located.
We have all read many horror stories about the terrible experiences that people in his situation have gone through and he admitted that he was dreading the thought of spending another week out of town, in a small town where he didn’t know a single person.
“Worse still, was a feeling that I was totally at the mercy of anyone that I had to deal with,” said Young.
Well as Paul Harvey would say, “Here is the rest of the story.”
Mr. Young stopped by the newspaper to visit about his five-day adventures in Price and I wish every stranded traveler could have an experience like his in our wonderful little community. From the moment the tow truck arrived until he hit the road for home he was treated like royalty by everyone that he met.
I love to hear stories like this. Normally we hear only the bad experiences but in the case of Lowell Young his list of outstanding people is quite long.
He met Diane Krozel and her parents at the Budget Host Inn and RV Park. Diane made sure that he had a map of the area, a local phone book and directions to every place she thought he might need to know about in Price.
His next experience was with Jesse Parker of Community Motors, who was honest and told him that he might not be able to get the truck repaired until the following week, “but that he would do his best to get him back on the road as soon as he could. He moved heaven and earth to help me and I was on my way in just five days.”
Also at Community Motors was James McCourt who went into work two hours early to make sure that he would be on his way before the end of the week. McCourt also checked the truck over thoroughly and found a couple of other problems waiting to happen and corrected them as well.
Melissa Palmer from Mountain View Motors was juggling four or five tasks, but never missed a beat while she arranged Mr. Young’s rental car.
Aaron Keller of United States Welding Inc. took the time to locate someone that would repair a pair of mounting brackets that were bent while he was being towed and John Magnuson of Steve’s Diesel Service and Sales in Helper stopped what he was doing and had Cody Nemcham and a welder get the brackets repaired. When Young asked how much he owed them, Cody and John said, “Nothing, you’ve had enough problems.”
Beck Petty of Becky’s Brews and Bakery on Main Street lives the motto on her business card, “where a friend is a gift, you gift yourself.” According to Young, “she is a gift to all of you and to me.”
Then there’s the man Young met at Becky’s who treated him like he was his long lost brother. “You folks in Price have a real treasure in this delightful, caring fellow.”
Young is also a Kiwanian member in California and we talked about our Kiwanis clubs and he ended our conversation with his only regret, “I didn’t have more time to get to know you all better.”
Visits from people like Lowell Young should be testimonials to all of us that first impressions do count and strangers in town for any reason should be treated well. I have worked with tourism bureaus and Chambers of Commerce for years that would give their eye teeth to hear stories like this.
Hat’s off to Price and Helper.