Rick Stiebel/News Gazette staff
The kindness of a Good Samaritan has left a Highlands woman at a loss to find a way to say thank you.
Anne Marie Panduro’s ongoing issues with potholes on the road up to her driveway covered in the May 29 issue of the Goldstream News Gazette struck a chord with someone who has a big heart. After returning from a week away in July to deal with a serious family matter, Panduro was shocked to see the 15 to 20 potholes in a long stretch of gravel road leading to her driveway off Millstream Road had been filled and the surface evened out to a large degree. Some of the potholes were a foot deep and two feet wide. “I thought our next door neighbour did it but it wasn’t them,” Panduro said. She then emailed a District of Highlands employee, and thanked him for addressing the problem.
“I had seen work crews in the area recently and figured it was them,” she explained. But that employee responded, indicating that while the District is in the process of deciding how to deal with Panduro and other residents with similar problems, Highlands had not done the work.
Panduro said while she has no problem maintaining the driveway until the District figures out what to do, she was still puzzled about who did the repairs. It wasn’t until a couple of days later that she noticed a handwritten note pinned to a tree near their house.
The note said, in part, “after reading your newspaper write-up, I took the liberty of filling in the potholes. It’s not a long term solution but we hope it helps you in the meantime. I understand your frustrations with the city because I’ve had the same issues before. I hope this helps you and your little ones. I’d like to remain anonymous and just happy to help.”
“The time away was draining emotionally,” Panduro noted.
“Coming home and seeing someone took the time and energy to do that is pretty overwhelming. I want to thank them even though they want to remain anonymous. I hope they see this and know how grateful we are.”
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