Alicia Ames, of Traverse City, has always thought Traverse City is a small town at heart, even though it's growing by leaps and bounds.
She most recently experienced that small-town spirit when she hit a rut in the road while returning from shopping and immediately received a message from her car that the tire pressure was low.
"I stopped at a seemingly empty parking lot at Copper Ridge to check it," Alicia wrote. "A fellow in a truck was leaving the lot when he saw me checking my tire. He and another fellow ... offered to help and wound up changing my tire. They wouldn't take anything for their trouble. Jim and Wes, thank you for being so kind!"
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Jennie Martinez wrote to recognize Overhead Door Company of Grand Traverse for their kindness and generosity.
Recently, the family's garage door opener quit working. Because they are experiencing financial difficulties like many other people, Jennie's husband called Overhead Door for some suggestions on getting the opener to work. Her husband spent a long time on the phone with Quinton and during the conversation admitted that he has been ill for the past year and that things weren't especially rosy right now.
"The following week, Quinton called back and said his boss, owner Mark Kovel, had a demonstration model that he was offering to give and install for us for nothing," Jennie wrote.
The next day, Thad Stallman came out and installed the new opener. He also noticed that there seemed to be a problem with the light sensors and reset them.
"That solved the door problem. He also was kind and a great listener," Jennie wrote. "It is nice to know that there are still people who take the time to be extra kind and helpful and we wish to thank them all."
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Jill Jenkins' daughter is a fifth-grade student at Eastern Elementary School and Jill was in charge of organizing the school's winter carnival.
"The event requires so many volunteers and we were fortunate to have the TC Central hockey team volunteer for the entire evening," Jill wrote. "They wore their jerseys and just did a wonderful job interacting with the kids. Another group from TC Central, Toby Tisdale's mentoring group, also was very helpful and volunteered to work at the carnival.