On Feb. 1, my husband, daughter and I drove out of Fairbanks with a truck and an SUV pulling a U-Haul trailer for a move to Seattle. The drive went smoothly, until we were 27 miles outside of Haines and one of the tires on the trailer blew out. I drove the remaining way into town to get cell phone service to call U-Haul, but after 45 minutes of waiting I was told that they had no one to repair the tire, and there was nothing for us to do but “limp into town” on the rim and hope for the best. When I got back to my husband, an hour and a half after leaving him, a man, John Marquardt, was with him, making phone calls and trying to arrange a tire for us. Ultimately, John helped us change the tire using the spare from our truck, spending two hours in the cold to help us make the ferry. Patty Campbell also stopped to help, and followed us all the way to the terminal to make sure we didn’t have any more problems. When I checked in, the woman at the counter said, “You made it! You must have had some local help.”
Whenever I tell people about being from Alaska, this story will be a hallmark of the kindness of Alaskan locals in helping people in need. We are forever grateful to John and Patty for their generosity of time and spirit.
Jennifer and Nicholas Wood