Behind our Center
there is a perpetual pond. It has
always been annoying, but this
last year not only was it worse,
but it attracted a snapping turtle.
Someone made the brilliant
suggestion that we build a deck
out there, so, when I told the
Board that we were going to
try to get all the water out of
there for good, they suggested
I call this gentleman who works
for the Road Commission – he
has all the equipment to help
us. So, I called him and he
came out right away, surveyed
the area and said it would take
about 1,000 yards of fill dirt to fix
our problem.
At $100 a yard that would
be financially impossible.
However, he said when the
Road Commission works on
roads they are always looking
for places to put the leftover dirt.
He said he would suggest they
dump it at our Center. I thought,
“Ok cool – we should be good in
a couple years.” Well, the next
Monday I came in and our pond
was filled and leveled. This
gentleman had come in on his
weekend and did all this work
for us on his own time. I called
him and asked him to bill us and
he refused.
I had to call him a few weeks
later and ask him if he could
fix the concrete platform that
our dumpster sits on because
it shifted and the truck couldn’t
pick up our dumpster correctly.
He said “No problem”, came
in, AGAIN on the weekend (he
REALLY likes working with
his tractors!), and fixed our
problem. Again, I called him for
a bill, and he refused. At our
next Board meeting I asked the
Board’s permission to get this
gentleman a gift certificate for
doing so much and refusing to
bill us. My Board president then
informed me that the reason he
did not want to take our money
is because about 4 years ago
his Mother was paying well
over $700/month in medical
bills and premiums. She came
to see me and I helped her
enroll in the Legacy plan and
got her extra help paying for
her prescriptions, which saved
her a ton of money. He said,
“THAT is why he will never bill
us for any services rendered”.
(P.S. I am tearing up as I write
this. That’s why we do it, isn’t it?)
