by Jody Spear and Kelly Meyer –
MASON CITY – At age 80, Paul Kitner, of 15394 Winnebago Ave., was out in his skid loader for four hours Monday afternoon getting himself and his neighborhood dug out.
“My father does the driveways of neighbors who are shut-ins and if he knows someone has been sick or can’t shovel themselves, he helps out. He watches and sees if any family comes and does it for them,” says his daughter, Kim Conell. “Some give him a little money and some don’t, he does it because he wants to.”
Paul makes sure that there is no snow in front of the mail boxes as he doesn’t want the mail carrier having a hard time trying to deliver mail. “I feel sorry for her,” Paul said. “It’s tough enough getting through on rural roads.”
He also cleans out a spot in the neighbors yard leading back to the gas tanks, so the men don’t have to crawl over snow banks to deliver LP.
“My father is 80 and still gets up at 5:30 every morning, he never misses work unless he is deathly ill, to my surprise, he called in this morning,” explained Kim.
“Well, our road didn’t get open till around 9:00 am, the neighbor had to get out and go to work, so he made sure he could. He is in love with his skid loader, he calls it his right hand man, it’s his buddy. He made the little cover that is on ‘skiddy’ with plywood and plexiglas, it keeps him very warm. My father is a very phenomenal man, he still works part-time at Bonanza. For four hours in the morning he is the maintenance man. He is still the hardest working man I know. It does get to his shoulders and hips being in it too long, but he will sacrifice to get the job done and to do it right!”
AWesome!!! Wish there was more people out there like Paul!!! :))
Be careful driving at night when the temp drops and the winds pick up. The winter is not over yet, more storms to come. I almost bought the farm last night on I-90 but my careful driving skills and slow speed saved my life.
@subscriber, again……why does your wife have the job if she doesn’t like being forced to go out there? if you take the job you make the commitment. i too have worked jobs i had to be their. some jobs are like that
i actually don’t believe the GG forces anyone to drive in the country until the plow goes at least once. but of course it’s windy on the prairie so drifts continue. i have also seen it announced that the paper will be late or non delivered.
i don’t work for any paper. and i chose to be a lazy writer. much like stupid twits on twitter. i just can’t hack whiners.
carry on.
My Grandfather (Paul) is one of the most amazing people I know. Thanks for helping the neighbors again. You truly are an American Hero.
It’s nice to see someone who not only is a hardworker but cares about helping others WITHOUT personal gain.
This story is awesome! Wish there were more people like this out there and that it was a story told more often!!!
Its too bad the Globe don’t realise how hard it is to travel on the rural roads when they send their carriers out after a storm.
Your right, safety of all drivers should be most important, but sadly it isn’t true. My wife delivers the rural routes and sometimes its absolutely impossible to deliver, most customers understand. Globe does NOT.
If they really cared about their drivers and carriers like they claim they do they wouldn’t put them in danger like they do.
Maybe they should take note here.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
129 PM CDT TUE MAR 12 2013
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>026-033>036-044>047-122130-
EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO-
POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-SAC-CALHOUN-WEBSTER-HAMILTON-
CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-BOONE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…ESTHERVILLE…ALGONA…FOREST CITY…
NORTHWOOD…EMMETSBURG…GARNER…MASON CITY…POCAHONTAS…
HUMBOLDT…CLARION…HAMPTON…SAC CITY…ROCKWELL CITY…
FORT DODGE…WEBSTER CITY…DENISON…CARROLL…JEFFERSON…BOONE
129 PM CDT TUE MAR 12 2013
…BLOWING SNOW CONTINUES THIS AFTERNOON OVER NORTHERN IOWA…
THE COMBINATION OF STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 30
MPH…PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS…AND A FRESH SNOW PACK…WILL
LEAD TO AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS.
ROADS WILL BECOME PARTIAL TO MOSTLY COVERED WITH ICE DUE TO THE
BLOWING SNOW…ESPECIALLY IN OPEN AREAS AND IN LOCATIONS WITH A
DEEPER SNOW PACK. IN ADDITION…VISIBILITY CAN QUICKLY DIMINISH TO
LESS THAN THREE QUARTERS OF A MILE AT TIMES…CREATING VERY
HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS.
then why don’t they get a different job if they don’t lie driving in the elements? no one’s forcing them to have that job. I know many paper carriers. never hear them bitching.
I know your a Globe troll by the way you spell.
And by the way, my wife has been a carrier/driver for over 20 years for the globe don’t tell me she cant handle the elements. But when you have over 12ft of snow + blowing and drifting out in the county, hmmm what did you come up with?
They threaten their carriers if they don’t go out because I have personally heard them while listening in on the calls.
@Subscriber-I have been in that position where a company I worked for would send you out no matter what the conditions. If you said you didn’t want to go, they would threaten and push you to go. They just don’t care because you are a contractor so if you wreck your vehicle or end up in the hospital it is on your nickel not theirs. All you can do is call their bluff an see if they fire you.
And maybe a big one Monday
Gonna snow again on Thursday
Thanks Paul, there’s not many people out there like you…