A tale of kindness on a very snowy night

The night after Thanksgiving, I walked out of The Millerton Moviehouse with some friends and saw that while watching the movie for a mere two hours, snow had been falling and at least 3 inches were covering Main Street in Millerton.

Instead of joining my friends at the Millerton Inn for a burger, I felt I needed to get home as it looked like there was no end in sight.

As I drove down Main Street, I could feel the roads were already slick and difficult to drive and my drive home was on a windy Route 199, which in normal circumstances is not an easy drive.

I could see that after driving merely 2/10 of a mile, cars were skidding over the ice, with some already stalled on the side of the road. I pulled into Four Brothers Pizza on Route 22, with the thought of perhaps calling the police. The police didn’t answer and although I felt it was an emergency, I was sure they wouldn’t.

What happened next is where the real story begins.

There were two couples who were getting ready to pay the bill when they heard me explaining my situation to the young boy manager.

The men, who were wearing “Millerton Fire Department” jackets, asked me where I lived and after telling them, they looked at each other and asked if they could help. I was at first shocked, but when I realized how frightened I was to attempt driving in the storm, I said, “I would be very grateful if you could.”

Within minutes, after telling them exactly where I lived, the one said, “I could drive you in your car” and the other said, “and I’ll follow.”

I’m a city girl and I can assure you this would never happen on the streets of Manhattan, and as my mother taught me, I would never get in a car with a stranger. But here, I was walking in the snow to my car with a very generous human being.

When in the car, we introduced ourselves. His name was Keith Roger and he’s been a fireman with the Millerton Fire Company for 30 years.

Keith got me home safely but not without some skids on the dark windy road.

I must have said “thank you” way too many times, but I was so grateful that Keith and his friend were in Four Brothers when I stepped into that restaurant.

Definitely, an angel was looking out for me that night and I am sure I will never forget this past Thanksgiving… and Keith!

Thank you, so much Keith, from Jill.

Jill Choder-Goldman, her husband and daughter have been living part-time in Pine Plains for almost 30 years. It’s been their weekend house and oasis. “Then March 13, 2020 came around and we came here for what we thought would be a month, maybe two at most. We’ve been here ever since, living, working and loving it,” she said.