You may or may not have noticed that Ridgeview was out of town for a few days on a much needed vacation. It’s been a few years since I’ve been out of Calhoun, so my bestie Glo and I spent a few days in Lancaster, PA at the theatre and doing some ever so serious retail therapy. Our return trip home had a little more excitement than we bargained for when wet ground and a hillside encounter allowed us to meet a few more people – Deputy Jacob Braniff of the Glenville Sheriff Department and Tpr. Brandon Singleton of the West Virginia State Police.
While the vehicle simply looks ”precariously parked” along the side of the road, it actually took some effort to get up there. It turns out that ”Ruby” (Gloria’s affectionate term for the car) had some mad “hopping skills” that terrified a very sweet girl who was driving behind us and observed the accident. She and several others stopped to insure our safety, flagged traffic and did whatever was necessary at the time until Deputy Braniff, Trooper Singleton, the Glenville Volunteer Fire Department and A&S Recovery (towing) of Burnsville arrived on scene.
While this is not a real newsworthy story, it is a noteworthy story. In these days of anti police posts and agenda purposed chatter, I felt it was a good time to bring reality into the story. When Deputy Braniff arrived on scene, aside from doing his job of investigating what happened, his compassion and concern for Gloria and I was well received. Again and again he made sure we were okay both physically and emotionally from the accident. Trp. Singleton offered not only concern but comedic relief to break the tension of the event. I can honestly say, in my 6 months of operating Ridgeview News and being on multiple accident and incident scenes, I have only ever witnessed kindness from officers. The stories that are so often heard on nightly news may or may not represent actual reality, but from what I’ve seen in West Virginia, we’re a blessed State.
I’m not saying that there have never been officers who have been unprofessional or unkind to people, its likely happened. But I can tell you for certain, those are the exception to the rule. And if anyone feels it’s going to end well when they respond to an officer with a belligerent attitude, well, that’s just ignorant.
So by way of gratitude, first to the Lord Jesus, for seeing Gloria and I safely home, I’m very grateful to live in a community that when ”life happens,” people step up. For the record, no people or purchases were hurt in the making of this story. It was a good news kind of day.
Also a shout out to Tomblin’s Service Station in Sand Fork, who fixed Gloria’s tire, test drove her car twice to insure our safety home and was very kind on the price of his time. You all represent Gilmer County well.
