Lending a hand to a tourist in need

My father is 91, needs a cane, but gets around OK and is usually still mentally pretty sharp. He recently went on a Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) week-long tour of Glacier Park.

After the tour he had a day in Whitefish before catching the train home to Seattle. He had lost his daypack that had his cell phone in it, so I could not contact him.

Kathleen Mahoney, who works at Runner Up Sports on First Street, saw him sitting on a bench outside. He was sunburned, dehydrated and a little confused.

She called me, let me know she would take care of him, and did so. She took him to her home, fed him dinner, and took him back to the train station late at night. He made it home today just fine.

In many communities where tourism is a big part of the economy, bad or rude behavior on the part of the tourists has worn down the empathy of the locals. I’m very happy this is not the case with Ms. Mahoney.

My brother Drew and I extend sincere gratitude to her. Whitefish is lucky to have community members like her.

— Ross Carey, Edmonds, Wash.