The good guys thread

[cassiesmom]

I saw this on the weekend ABC news last night, too. I think this is such a nice thing for the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York to do

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Tony and Jo Fioravante will celebrate their 66th wedding anniversary today the same way they spent their wedding night, with a stay at the luxurious Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan -- and the Park Avenue room will cost the couple just $15.75.

The Staten Island couple, who kept their original receipt from 1948, will pay the same rate this year, even though the room rates in 2014 start at $799.

The Fioravantes are cashing in on the hotel’s long-standing tradition of honoring the original rate for couples celebrating an anniversary of 50 years or more who spent their wedding night at the Waldorf and kept the receipt after all those years.

Deb Curl commented on Facebook, "My parents did that for their 50th and they were treated like royalty!"

[kuhio98]

Child with rare form of cancer gets a special day in preschool

A young girl with rare form of cancer has a wish granted to show up at preschool for her first time.

Ava Parker, 2, had seen bigger kids loading on to school buses and only wanted to join them. She was told she would have to wait until she got a little bit bigger.

Her mother, Kacy Parker, told Fox59 News, “So, she comes to me the next day and says “Mommy, am I big enough and I said, no not yet and she said Ok.”

On December 10, 2012, her life changed dramatically. What started out as a black eye and grouchiness, turned into a parent’s worst nightmare. Ava was diagnosed with a malignant tumor known as a Rhabdoid Tumor. This is what makes her day at preschool so remarkable.

Her parents reached out to Decatur Township to see if they would enroll her for just one day. Ava’s family wanted to make sure she didn’t miss out on just being another kid in the class.

The family says that words aren’t enough to explain what it meant to Ava to have this experience.

“My heart is really going to explode with joy. It’s beyond words could even describe how happy we are to see her,” said her mother.

She also left a valuable lesson for her fellow Hoosiers seeing this story.

“Just don’t take you children for granted,” she said, “cause anything can happen.”

[kuhio98]

Community coming together to build barn for horse

HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) - A Connecticut Vietnam veteran and his horse, Melody, have honored other fallen veterans almost 600 times.

However, a recent storm has put that legacy in jeopardy.

"In the beginning when I told people I was going to do it, they thought I was little a fruit loops. They said, 'You're going to bring your horse to a funeral and people are going to laugh at you,'" said Sgt. Rick Kowalker.

Kowalker bringing Melody along was about honoring those who served.

"I can't ride the horse at the funeral," Kowalker said. "It has to be what they call a riderless horse with the boots in backwards in the stirrups and it's to symbolize a fallen hero."

Kowalker and Melody started this tradition several years ago and he knew from the start they'd share a special bound.

"[I] saw a sign that said horse for adoption," Kowalker said. "I didn't know what it meant, but I think that's why I checked it because I was adopted myself."

Recently that bond was tested after a winter storm destroyed part of Melody's barn.

"Around here you have to have a place for your horse," Kowalker said. "You just can't be keeping it out all winter long."

Just like other Marines did for him on the battlefield, neighbors started to come to Kowalker's aide. One donated his barn as a temporary shelter while others started an online campaign to build a permanent home.

The permanent barn will hopefully go just steps away from the final resting place for many veterans. It's also the same place where Kowalker and Melody conducted their first funeral.

Neighbors hope to raise $6,000 to ensure Kowalker and Melody can continue to give other veterans a proper sendoff.

"It sure is a good feeling to look out my back door and see my horse right there too," Kowalker said.

[Karen]

How nice, what a dear and touching sight they must be at each funeral.

[kuhio98]

The Burrito Boyz Serve Up Free Breakfasts for San Diego's Homeless

While most teens are impossible to rouse at the crack of dawn, the Burrito Boyz of San Diego, Calif., are out of their homes by 6:30 a.m. every Sunday.

Their mission: Making breakfast burritos for the city's homeless, something they've done for 167 consecutive Sundays since November of 2010.

Comprised of a core team of seven high school boys and a small army of volunteers, they've given away more than 51,000 burritos and counting.

"We show the homeless community that we're not giving up on them, so they shouldn't give up on themselves," explains Alec Johnson, 15, who started the Burrito Boyz nonprofit with his father, Michael, 49, and best friend Luke Trolinger, 16.

The Burrito Boyz (which includes classmates Nick Peeleman, 16; Joe Skvarna, 15; Cole Smith, 16; Justin McDonald, 16; and Julian Wahl, 16), along with the Burrito Babes (Girl Scout Troop 5273) have expanded their mission over the years.

They now also provide books, clothing, rain tarps, toiletries and have been known to host occasional spaghetti dinners for the homeless as well.

"It's heartwarming to know that someone cares," says Eddie, 60, a former construction worker who is now homeless and did not want his last name used.

"They treat us like human beings," he says. "They're not just a charity, they're our friends."

Says San Diego City Councilman Scott Sherman, who explains the homeless population, many of whom are veterans, has spiked dramatically since 2008: "These boys aren't just giving handouts, but a hand-up by showing them that everyday people care."

The nonprofit began after Alec, then 12, presented his Christmas wish list to his parents in 2010: an iPhone, MacBook Air and other pricey items.

"I thought, 'Holy cow. My son's growing up quick, asking for such mature items,' " explains Michael, a former sports marketer.

"My wife, Mehrnaz, and I instead decided to teach him what's important in life," he says.

The very next weekend, they handmade 54 breakfast burritos in the family kitchen – paid out of their own pocket – and greeted the less fortunate on the downtown streets with the hot meal, bottle of water and a touch of dignity.

"It felt like punishment at first when my dad told me the idea," Alec says with a laugh.

"But to see human beings sleeping on the cold ground outside, it really touched me," he says. "To realize how much they don't have, and how much we do. It's a huge part of my life now."

Trolinger agrees.

"We learned to see the person beneath the grit and the grime," he says. "They're just ordinary people down on their luck."

Cordaryl Johnson, 26, is one of those people.

"This is God working in mysterious ways," says Johnson, an unemployed construction worker who has been living out of two cars with his wife and five children for the past several weeks.

"Once we get on our feet," he says, "I'll be right back here helping to volunteer."

[kuhio98]

Waitress receives $6,000 tip for being happy

So it turns out that being nice can pay off. Who knew?

Abigail Sailors is a waitress at a Lincoln, Neb., Cracker Barrel. And despite the many, many obstacles in her life, Sailors is a cheerful waitress, not one who slings your food at you with barely disguised disgust. And her cheerfulness has paid off in a big way.

Two customers walked into Sailors' Cracker Barrel last week asking to be seated at a table of the grumpiest server in the restaurant, promising they could make that server laugh. The hostess refused their request and sat them with their cheeriest waitress instead. So the two customers found themselves at one of Sailors' tables, and she began talking. And talking. And talking.

It turns out that Sailors has had a troubled life, one filled with foster homes and abuse and families broken time and time again. When she was just 7 months old, she was involved in a major car crash from which her mother has never fully recovered. Her father was deemed unfit to be a parent, and she and her four siblings were moved to three different foster homes. They suffered abuse at one of the foster homes before Abigail and her siblings were adopted by the Sailors family nine years ago.

The more the customers, who remained anonymous, questioned Sailors, the more she shared about her ancient and recent history. She told them that she's currently enrolled at Trinity Bible College in North Dakota, but didn't have enough money to take classes in the spring. So she was saving money with the hopes of returning in the fall.

“I’m just thankful," she told the Lincoln Journal-Star. "Everything we went through, my attitude is: God blessed me with a lot of things. I’m doing good. That’s all that matters to me.”

Sailors' story and positive attitude moved her customers so much that they invested in her future to a significant degree. They wrote a check for $5,000 to Trinity for her to go back to school this spring, and another check for $1,000 for Sailors herself for daily expenses.

“I couldn’t believe it," she said. "I tried to thank them, and they said, ‘Thank God.’”

So there you go. You can gripe about your life, or you can spin it positive and hope a mysterious stranger rolls into town and tosses you a few bucks. Hey, you never know.

[Karen]

Sounds like a very nice person, and those were very special customers!

[kuhio98]

Puppy rescued off I-395 overpass ledge

Most of us are zombies on the way into work, mindlessly listening to the radio and zoning out as we dread the eight hour day ahead. But not Tiffany Nicolette. Her sharp eye saved a puppy's life. And camera's caught the whole thing on tape.

Tiffany Nicolette was driving into work Thursday morning when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. It was a puppy. It was trapped behind a fence on the 395 overpass near the stadiums in Baltimore. Nicolette pulled her car over and called for help, watching the pup shaking more than 30 feet above the street below.

"I knew he was in the wrong place so I knew I had to do something. It was scary just because if you make the wrong move and startle him, he could go off the edge," Nicolette said.

As Nicolette and others waited for a way to rescue the puppy, someone spotted a bucket truck. A crew with Arundel Signs happened to be working in the area. The group flagged down the truck and made a request - drive to Hamburg Street and raise the bucket to reach the puppy.

Worker Billy Muncy rose to the rescue. His efforts were captured in a cell phone video that was posted to YouTube.

"It hopped in my arms when i put my arm up," Muncy said, "It leaped toward me. I had to catch it so it wouldn't fall down. I was scared I was going to drop it."

But he didn't. The dog was now safe and sound. It's since been taken to BARCS, which we're told plans to adopt out the seven-month old dog. Nicolette, who already has three dogs at home, says the pup she helped rescue won't have a problem finding a new family to love.

[kuhio98]

Diamondhead traffic cop serves community with dance

He is not your ordinary traffic cop.

"I just let the spirit move me," Diamondhead Police Officer Darrell Hughes said.

Hughes puts a little hip and arm action into his directing.

"Traffic control is probably the most boring part of police work but you make it what it is, and if you enjoy it goes by faster."

He has been dancing his way through work for 35 years since he first earned his badge in 1979.

"I'm from New Orleans originally and you know everything is a show in New Orleans."

We actually caught his boogie act back in 2003 when he worked for the Long Beach Police Department. While his moves have not changed much, he is still a big hit with South Mississippians.

"I love him," Diamondhead Resident Rosemary Slate said.

"We come around the corner and he's just throwing his little arms around."

Her husband also enjoys his dancing act.

"He has a very good time doing it," John Slate said.

Fourth grader Lexie Ladner enjoys her rides home from school in the afternoons.

"He's very funny and has a really good personality," Lexie said.

Do not let his goofy moves fool you. Hughes takes his job very seriously and gets choked up knowing he not only serves and protects, he also puts a smile on many faces.

"It gives me a warm feeling inside," Hughes said with tears in his eyes.

He said he does not plan on giving up his dance moves anytime soon.

"Not until the day they put me in the ground. If you don't like your job get a new one, but if you like your job, love your job."

You can catch Officer Hughes' dancing act several days a week at the corner of Interstate 10 and the eastbound entrance into Diamondhead between 3:30 and 4:15 in the afternoon.

[cassiesmom]

Source: Chicago Tribune

A dog rescued in Texas but lost at Midway Airport after slipping from her harness has been found safe and is on her way to a new home in Wisconsin.

"We are just so happy," said Lauren Kelliher, vice president of Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus, which helped coordinate the dog's travel to Elkhorn, Wis.

A woman found Madison in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side Tuesday night, then spotted a flier about the missing Doberman when she went to the grocery store this morning, Kelliher said. The woman left a message in Spanish around 10:30 a.m., Kelliher said.

Kelliher and other volunteers started scrambling to find someone to translate the message, but the woman soon called back. She told them, in English, that she had found Madison in her neighborhood near 38th and Spaulding, cold and hungry, and coaxed the dog into her garage.

Madison was inside the woman's house, wrapped in blankets, as a volunteer went to pick her up and the woman who originally planned to take her to Wisconsin prepared to begin their delayed journey to Wisconsin. The dog bore a distinctive scar that matched Madison's, according to Larissa Gavin, a volunteer who rescued Madison.

Gavin said she had been driving around a neighborhood in Houston on Jan. 5 with the founder of a rescue group, stopping to offer food to dogs and talking to people about bringing their dogs in during the cold weather, when they happened upon three unleashed puppies.

The two found the puppies' mother, Madison, nearby, and three days later were able to take custody of the dogs and take them to to a veterinarian for examination. One of the puppies had a broken femur, and Madison showed signs of having been injured, Gavin said.

After they sent out word about the dogs, a home was found for Madison in Wisconsin, while her puppies were placed with a puppy rescue shelter in Houston, Gavin said.

Madison arrived at Midway Friday and was picked up by a Chicago paramedic who volunteers for a Doberman rescue group and was going to drive the dog to Wisconsin, Gavin said. Madison somehow slipped out of her harness near 53rd Street and Central Avenue, Gavin said.

Volunteers then combed the area, with the last sighting of Madison Saturday night near 38th Street and Spaulding Avenue, as "a bunch of volunteers descended on the area," Kelliher said. But "we hadn't heard anything since."

[kuhio98]

Richford woman helps feed power crews

RICHFORD, Vt. - When Tracey Hemond was told the workers restoring power from last weekend's ice storm may go without food on Christmas, she did not hesitate to head to the grocery store, and then back to her kitchen to cook.

"I got a phone call around 11 o'clock yesterday morning from a VEC worker saying that there was no place for all the linemen and tree trimmers to go have Christmas dinner," Hemond said.

Hemond's husband is one of the line workers out in the cold working to get folks in the area back in the warm. He was injured on the job seven years ago, and the Vermont Electric Co-op was there in his time of need. Tracey Hemond is more than happy to return the favor.

"Breakfast yesterday morning, and made lunches. Then I guess we started cooking around noon for Christmas dinner," she said.

Mike and Tracey not only prepared these meals for the line workers, but they paid for it out of their own pocket-- close to $3,000, and that doesn't include a possible meal for Thursday night.

"If they're still working then yes, we'll be having dinner tonight," Tracey Hemond said.

For lunch on Boxing Day, she got more than 31 pounds of cold cuts to feed close to 100 mouths.

"Very generous to open their house, especially during Christmastime, to allow us to enter their house and put on a meal for everyone. They've been very generous. They're great people," said Vic Carter of VEC.

The line workers from both in and out of state are working 18 hour days to get power restored.

"For us, it feels good because we had so much help seven years ago. So, it feels good to give back," Tracey Hemond explained.

Giving back to those pitching in to restore power.

Hemond prepared 140 bagged lunches, including a sandwich, chips and a cookie, in less than two hours with help from family and friends.

[kuhio98]

Antioch Police say Target employee helped find abducted girl

ANTIOCH, Calif. — Antioch Police are praising a Target Store employee in Pittsburg for helping bring a child's kidnapping ordeal to an end.

“When I first spotted him in the store, I thought he was going to shoplift,” said 22-year-old Roxanna Ramirez.

Ramirez had no way of knowing the stranger she was watching, 43-year-old David Douglas, would later become the prime suspect in the armed abduction of a seven year old girl in Antioch.

What Ramirez noticed, was a shopper behaving suspiciously.

“He had a backpack, and he was picking things up and putting them down in the men's department,” recalled Ramirez.

As a loss prevention specialist, it's her job to monitor unusual behavior, so she followed Douglas for a time, even asking him is he needed help. He said no.

Then, she went to her office and watched him on surveillance cameras.

“He was fidgeting around, acting really weird, abnormal. I don't know, it just didn't make me feel comfortable,” Ramirez elaborated.

After he left the store, she continued to watch him remotely as he went to his car, and rifled through his backpack, occasionally leaving the car to pace and smoke, then returning.

“At one point, I saw him grab his steering wheel and start to shake it, and that was really off to me,” Ramirez noted. “That's when I really know something was wrong with him.”

She wrote his license plate number in the little notebook she always carries, and didn't think about it again until that night, when her girlfriend told her a child had been abducted.

“She read the description of the car, and I was like, 'hold on', that sounds like somebody I saw earlier at my job! It fits the same description,” said Ramirez. “I was like 'It's kinda weird' and she said, ‘you should call.’”

Ramirez called the plate in, and it led to Douglas, which led to the Antioch Marina, where police have had encounters with him before. He was apprehended, and the girl reunited with her family, four hours after she was taken.

Police came to Ramirez's door about midnight to tell her that her tip had made the difference.

“They said I helped crack the case, and my heart just dropped, like, really? I couldn't believe it” said a still incredulous Ramirez.

“She is a true hero,” acting police Capt. Tammany Brooks told KTVU. “We at the Antioch Police Department applaud people like Roxanna Ramirez who are willing to step forward to make our community a safer place. It's a collaborative effort.”

Ramirez said she is simply glad she could play a part in bringing the young victim to safety.

“I'm happy that she's home, and gets to spend the rest of this time with her family because not all kidnappings end like this. It feels really good.”

And she hopes her experience encourages everyone to listen to their gut instincts. In Roxanna's words, when something doesn't feel right, “Run with it.”

[kuhio98]

An Angelic Superhero
He wasn't really a superhero; he just dressed like one. But then an opportunity to be an angel presented itself...
By Troy Marcum, Huntington, West Virginia


Every kid dreams about growing up to be a superhero, but not many expect that dream to come true. My twin brother, Travis, couldn’t believe it when I told him mine had. “What do you mean you’re going to be Captain America for real?” he asked.

Superheroes had been important to me since I was a little kid. Travis and I really needed heroes back then. We had a difficult childhood, bouncing around from one tough situation to another. When we didn’t think things could get any worse, they did.

The one thing Travis and I could rely on was our comic books. When you’re a small boy, and afraid, it’s a great comfort to imagine you’re big and strong, rescuing other children from danger.

One night, when we were about eight, Travis and I huddled together in bed wondering if we’d always be surrounded by people stronger than us. “We’ll find a way out of this mess,” I whispered to him. “Someday we’ll overcome, like all of our heroes. You’ll see!”

With each other–and God–to lean on, that’s exactly what we did. Travis worked for the would-be governor of Washington State. I’d spent years as a professional wrestler and been awarded the Armed Forces Service Medal in the Navy for my work as a surgical technician.

Now I’d been offered an even more important job.

“I’m going to be Captain America,” I repeated to Travis. I’d gotten a call from a man named John Buckland, an Iraq War vet and a former firefighter. He ran a group called Heroes 4 Higher. They dressed up as superheroes to teach kids how to be a hero in their own right.

John had seen a picture of me from my wrestling days. I competed dressed as Cap–red, white and blue uniform, star on my shield. It was a big hit with the crowd, but it had special meaning for me.

In striving to become a hero like him as a boy, I didn’t feel like a victim. Maybe in this program I could share that feeling with other children. “If anyone can do it, you can,” my brother said.

I started “work” right away, visiting elementary schools, hospitals and community centers. John dressed as Batman, his wife was Batgirl.

There was nothing better than talking to kids one-on-one, having them look at me and see a hero. Courtney from Milton Elementary wanted us to visit her school on her birthday to teach everyone to be nice to each other.

Abby met us at an anti-bullying rally at the mall where she appeared in a tiara. Cameron, a boy losing his fight against cancer, said we gave him courage.

“You really have become one of the heroes from our comic books,” Travis said. Well, not really, I thought as I suited up for an appearance for local kids at the American Legion last fall. I wasn’t capturing bad guys or saving lives. The kids just thought I did those things because of my costume.

Our hosts at the American Legion introduced us, and John and I–as Batman and Captain America–took the stage. The kids clapped and then quieted down.

I spoke about some of the challenges they might face at school and gave some tips about standing up to peer pressure. The kids were taking it all in. John suddenly stepped forward and pointed out the window to a house across the street. “That place is on fire!”

Brown smoke poured out of the windows, turning black. The ex-firefighter didn’t waste a minute. “Call 911,” he told the room, and both of us ran across the street, followed by some of the bikers who were there to give an anti-drug presentation. One of them, Tank, helped John to kick in the front door.

“Throw a rock through the window,” John then ordered me. “We need to get some of that smoke out!” John went inside the house, disappearing into the thick smoke. “Anyone home?” he shouted. No answer, thank goodness.

Across the street the kids shouted, “Go, Batman, go! You can do it, Captain America! You can do it!”

John emerged from the blackness with something in his arms–something furry. It was a gray and black cat. “He needs air,” I said.

Firefighters hosed down the house. John laid the cat on the grass, and we exchanged a desperate look. Neither of us had ever performed CPR on a cat before, but we had to try!

“Captain America and Batman will save him!” one of the kids shouted. John breathed air into the cat’s mouth. The cat twitched. His eyes sprang open. He hissed angrily. Success! By the time the family returned home, their pet was good as new.

EMTs treated John for smoke inhalation, while the kids stared at us, awestruck. “You saved him!” they said. “Batman and Captain America saved the cat!”

John turned to me. “Guess this really was a job for Batman and Captain America!” he said. My brother agreed when I told him all about it. “Superheroes giving a cat CPR,” he said. “That’s like a scene from a comic book!”

John and I received many accolades for our actions that day. At the West Virginia Pumpkin Festival Parade we were reunited with Bob the Cat and family. The fire damage wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been, and they were back in their home already.

Now people were not only calling us heroes–they were calling us angels. All I knew was, for one day God had truly granted my adventurous boyhood wish.

[kuhio98]

Good Samaritan helps jump start cars for free -- Illinois, USA

The cold can be pretty hard on our cars, but one local man volunteered his time helping give people a jump.

4th Avenue Auto Sales in Moline has been flooded with calls.

“They’ve been ringing off the hook, probably about every five minutes,” said employee Chris Sunken.

However, the calls aren’t for their business, but for a certain employee. Brad McCorckle, who works at 4th Avenue, decided to post on Facebook he would help out whoever needed a jump start for their car.

“(I thought) ‘We should put something on Facebook and go out and see who needs some help,’ so that’s what we did,” said McCorckle.

The post blew up on Facebook and so did the calls. On Monday, January 6, 2013, McCorckle started his day at 10:00 a.m., driving to several homes to offer his help for free.

“That’s what struck me right there, that he was willing to do that to give back to the community. So, I think it’s a great thing he’s doing especially in this weather,” said Robin Carden, a nurse who was stranded at home and needed to get to her patients.

McCorckle says it’s just the right thing to do.

“I was always taught by my parents to help people,” said McCorckle.

He’s bringing sunshine to people on a very cold day.

“There’s not many out there willing to do that anymore,” said Carden.

[kuhio98]

Portland man who wrestled bank robber: 'I'm not going to just stand around and watch'

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - Portland police officers were honored Thursday for their heroic efforts on the job, but the police bureau also left room for a brave civilian.

Scott Adams received the Portland Police Civilian Medal for Heroism.

In August, Adams was working construction at Portland Community College when he saw a man run through the job site.

He heard people shouting that the man had just robbed a bank, so Adams chased after him.

Police said the suspect, Frazer Piccolo, eventually confronted Adams, threatened him and even tried to punch him.

But Adams managed to dodge the punch and then landed a punch of his own on Piccolo, bringing him down. Adams then held Piccolo down until officers arrived.

"They were saying it was a great job (and) that if I hadn't taken action, there's a chance he might have gotten away," Adams said. "I'm a hard-working individual and for people to try and take something that isn't theirs, I'm not going to just stand around and watch it."

A police sergeant joked at the ceremony that Adams should stop by the recruitment table on his way out.