Lost wallets returned to owners
Mereanus and Shirlene Petersen were heading into Kmart last month to do some Christmas shopping. As they were walking through the store a man in his mid-20s or 30s came up to them holding Mereanus' wallet and asked him if it was his.
Apparently Shirlene's husband had his wallet in his lap when he got out of the car and dropped it in the parking lot on their way into the store.
The Petersens hadn't even realized the wallet was missing when the stranger returned it.
"We were in such shock. We wish there was a way to somehow thank him," Shirlene said. As he was leaving they hurriedly asked, "Wait. What about a reward?" He only extended his hand to shake and left before they could get his name.
The wallet not only contained money and all his credit cards, but also Mereanus' sheriff's badge. Retired from the Flathead County sheriff's posse, he also is a former corrections officer at the county jail. As the young man walked away, Shirlene asked her husband, "Honey, was that an angel?"
Walt and Suzanne Koerschner of Kalispell are also indebted to the person who found Suzanne's wallet and turned it in to the police department the week before Christmas.
Realizing the wallet was missing with credit cards, medical information, family photos and some cash, the couple spent a day depressed and trying to think of what they could do. Then they received a phone call from the police telling them that someone who wished to remain anonymous had left the wallet at the station.
"It still contained all the contents, attesting to the fact that honest folks do exist," the Koerschners wrote. "It really brought the spirit of Christmas home. Their generous act once again gives hope and faith in the innate goodness of man. Thank you, whoever you are."
Rob and Linda Robertson of Redmond, Wash., had traveled to the Flathead with their children to spend Thanksgiving with their son, who is attending Affinity Foundation, a Christian-based home for teens in Proctor.
Though they got a flat tire their first evening in Kalispell, they met several helpful people at Glacier Toyota and Les Schwab who went the extra mile to get them rolling again.
"Everywhere we went we were greeted with warmth and friendliness, from the affable barista at Mojo's Espresso to the girls in the deli at the Whitefish Safeway," they wrote.
Then a bad stomach bug bit Rob and all four teenagers just as they were getting ready to drive back to Seattle. Rebecca, an employee at La Quinta Inn where they were staying, came to the rescue, and called her mother, a nurse in town, to see if she could somehow arrange an appointment for them.
Thirty minutes before closing time on a Saturday, Big Sky Family Medicine made room in their schedule for the Robertsons, provided immediate help and prescribed anti-nausea medicine for the trip home.
"Although spending Thanksgiving in a motel isn't exactly most people's idea of festive," the Robertsons wrote, "the people of the Flathead Valley certainly gave us a home for the holiday."
The Robertsons returned to Kalispell for Christmas and were again greeted with gracious hospitality. "So often only the bad events make the news … We wanted you to know how impressed we are with how the people of Kalispell and Whitefish treat their guests!"