EDITOR’S NOTE: We have been wanting to launch our “Goodness News” and Fred Bassett provided the perfect opportunity. Please share your the goodness and kindness – we know that there’s good news out there, and goodness knows we need it. Send your shout-outs to community heroes to editor@tillamookcountypioneer.net.
A few days ago, on our regular walk to get our mail at the Cloverdale Post Office, my wife and I noticed a broken branch lying precariously high above and directly over Campground St. My fear was that in one of our winter storms, which are fast approaching, the branch would fall on an unsuspecting señor citizen (me) or on one of many school age children who walk up and down the hill to get to and from school.
The branch was far too high to be removed with anything but a bucket truck, but very near to where this “widow maker” was perched is the sign announcing that Campground St. is a “public road not maintained by the county,.”
However, assuming if the Tillamook County Road Department couldn’t help they’d at least be able to steer me in the right direction to get some assistance, I called.
In a very short time I received a phone call from Jerry Markee. He was at the intersection of Campground Street and Parkway Drive, but couldn’t see the branch I was calling about. I walked down the hill and pointed out the branch. That was on Monday afternoon, Nov. 3.
By early Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 4, Markee and a crew of three had brought the county’s bucket truck, removed the branch I was concerned about and one other “widow maker” they spied in the process. I thanked Markee and told him I thought his response to my call and to solving the issue was beyond the call of duty. “I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Markee said, “safety first!”
I learned in the process that Markee has recently been named Foreman for the Tillamook County Road Department. My hat is off to whomever made that decision. In my book Markee is definitely the right man for the job.
Fred Bassett
Cloverdale