I caught up to Andrew Nagel to thank him for plowing out the back alley all the way from 54th Ave exit, halfway between 47th St. and 49th St., back around our property, and then all the way north to the next intersection of back alley that is between 56th Ave and 55th ave. We live at the South East corner of 55th, and couldn’t get our little cars, the Smart car and the Pontiac Wave, up the back alley to our garage. Monday night I got halfway up from 47th Street with the Wave, hoping to get a straight run for it up the alley to my garage, but no dice. The car slid off the packed track and quickly got bogged down to a stop. I managed to get it to back up all the way out again, so I parked in front of the house hoping that the cold of the night would not keep it from starting the next morning. My wife got the Smart Car stuck in the center of the circle of the cul-de-sac, so I had to help her get it to a cleaned area in front of our neighbour’s house. So that’s where they spent the night. On Tuesday I saw Andrew clearing the alley and then cutting a walking path to the sidewalk on 54th Ave from our corner of the back alley to top it all off. That’s when I got the picture. Yes, he looks like the abominable snowman, but he’s the best neighbour ever. After he was finished blowing I could park my cars back into the garage.

I am personally indebted to the man. My “power shovel” is a plastic snow shovel, and my arms and back were already worn out and tired after clearing the drive area in front of the garage and the back and front walks twice already. No way was I going to shovel out the whole back alley.

– Submitted by Ken Vanderploeg