Letter: Kindness of strangers on Piceance Creek

I am writing out of gratefulness for the kind actions on Labor Day of Lonnie Shults and his son Tony and a neighbor Jim. We had driven our motorcycle from Basalt to Piceance Creek to look at an area known for fossils. My husband forgot to turn off the ignition on the bike and our battery ran down. After several failed tries of pushing the huge bike to try a jump start, feeling exhausted, and passed by several flying oil company trucks with their caravans, Lonnie and his son pulled up next to us and asked if we needed help. Tony helped me give one more running attempt to push the bike into action, but it just wouldn’t start. Lonnie drove back down the road to a local friend’s house, Jim, (I don’t know his last name) who returned with jumper cables, which had us roaring in seconds. At this time another older couple on an ATV pulled up to ask if they could help. I was overwhelmed at the compassion and willingness of the local community to help two strangers on a Harley. My heart is renewed with the realization that communities like this one still exist where people’s hearts live out the Golden Rule in their actions. Thank God there are still good-hearted people in our country … that gives me hope.
Thankful strangers,
Jalyne Lessig
Basalt