82-year-old Caribou man thankful for help from good Samaritans

By Barbara Scott, Aroostook Republican & News

Posted Feb. 10, 2012, at 5:14 p.m.
Last modified Feb. 10, 2012, at 5:33 p.m.

CARIBOU, Maine — Roland Cyr, 82, worked 33 years as operations manager for the J.C. Penney Co. when the store was located in Caribou. Retired now for nearly 20 years, the Caribou resident stated, “I don’t do too much, too fast these days, but regardless, after Wednesday’s snowstorm, I knew I had to shovel out my driveway.”

As Cyr was clearing his driveway Thursday morning, a FairPoint Communications employee and several others working nearby noticed that the elderly man had developed a nosebleed while shoveling.

Cyr said the FairPoint worker “came over to me and said, ‘Hey your nose is bleeding — do you have another shovel?’

“I pointed to another I had nearby and he grabbed it and started clearing my driveway. Then another worker asked if I had any more and he started helping,” Cyr said. “In all there were four men and they all grabbed a shovel and started shoveling. I went inside to try to stop my nosebleed and when I came back out — the driveway was completely cleared and they were back to their own work — I didn’t even get a chance to thank them.

“I just wanted to share this story,” Cyr said. “We hear about all the bad things — how there are so many crimes all the time — something good like this usually goes unnoticed.

“These men didn’t have to shovel my driveway,” said Cyr, “and others need to know that there are still good people around here.”