Hatters grateful for youthful Good Samaritans who exemplified ‘kindness and diligence’

By Letter to the Editor on October 6, 2017.

I would like to share the story of seven awesome people.

Last Friday, my husband Keith and I decided to take our last camping trip of the year. At the time, going to Elkwater in late September didn’t seem to be a bad idea. The fire ban was still on but we were now allowed the use of our portable fire pit.

There were a few other trailers in our campground and all but one other had left by Sunday afternoon. Our plans were to stay until Tuesday. It was very quiet and deer were everywhere.

It rained Sunday evening and we joked about “winter camping.” Turned out not to be a joke!

Waking up Monday to snow took us by surprise. Thinking it would stop, we were still prepared to stay. But, as the day went on, we lost water, power became intermittent, and not knowing how long our propane tanks would run our furnace, we decided to leave.

My husband had been following the weather radar and when the road closures started, we thought it best not to take the trailer. So we left, thinking it’d be too easy to pick it up the next day.

How wrong that turned out! Back at noon on Tuesday, we drove into Beaver Creek to find more than two feet of drifting snow covering our campsite.

A plow had — kind of — pushed through the snow to just beyond our campsite. So we, Keith mostly, started shovelling. After barely making a dent, two conservation officers came across us. More than just helping to shovel, they were very reassuring that we would not be penalized given the circumstances. They left once we were able to back the truck in.

It took quite a while to get the hitch to engage before we were able to start pulling. Unfortunately, every few feet forward resulted in more shovelling. Each time involved the tires on both vehicles.

Three hours after we got there it seemed we were making little progress. Then five young people, late teens to early 20s, on their way snowboarding arrived. Without hesitation, they grabbed shovels and started taking the road down to dirt. Within half an hour, we were able to pull the trailer out to a main road.

Refusing offers of money, they were the most gracious of Good Samaritans. The four young men and young lady truly exemplify kindness and diligence. Without their efforts, we may have been there many more hours. We are so grateful. Thank you again.

Shannon Hausauer

Medicine Hat

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