JARDINE: Heart-warming tales for cold valley day

From the e-mails, voice mails and other sources:

HELPING HANDLEBARS

Here's one of those pay-it-forward stories.

A couple of weeks ago, a man found himself stranded near Tracy when his motorcycle broke down. A passer-by stopped to help and decided the best thing would be to take this traveler to the shop the good-deeder frequents in Modesto — Braap Shop Yamaha on Carpenter Road. It was Art Mitchell's Yamaha until Brett Hamilton and his sister, Melanie, bought it in June.

The stranger, whom they presumed to be in his mid-30s, told them he is an artist who travels the world giving art lessons to poor and-or abused children. Hamilton learned only the man's first name, Benjamin. Never asked his last name. Benjamin carries his worldly possessions in a backpack, Hamilton said.

"And he's been keeping this journal, with pictures (drawings) of all the places he's been," Hamilton said. "It's at least 2 inches thick. It looks like an old Bible."

Hamilton and his shop manager went to Tracy to fetch the bike. When they returned, the artist asked he if could camp out alongside the shop for the night.

Instead, Hamilton paid for a room for Benjamin at a motel nearby, giving him a roof over his head for the night. Then Hamilton went to the restaurant next to the hotel to arrange a hot meal for the weary traveler.

The motorcycle — a Honda taken to a Yamaha shop, imagine that — had problems that couldn't be immediately remedied, Hamilton said. Benjamin needed to be in Mexico in a day or two. So he went online to find a ride south, and one of the Braap Shop employees drove him to Los Banos to make the connection.

Benjamin will return in a couple of weeks to find his wheels back in working order.

"The service guys will do what it takes to fix the bike," Hamilton said.

"It is truly amazing there are still amazing people in this world who do amazing things," wrote Chris DeRuyter of Manteca, who told us about the episode.

PHILANTHROPIST

A couple of months ago, officials of the McHenry Museum received a letter from a girl named Kelsey McKiernan. She needed to complete a project that would enable her to attend a camp. She decided the proceeds should benefit a worthy cause.

"I did a lemonade stand and I thought I could give some money to your place," she wrote. "I came here on a field trip in maybe like 3rd grade and I loved it. I had so much fun. It got me thinking about the field trip to the McHenry Museum, and I was like, 'OK, I've got it: McHenry Museum.' "

A $20 bill accompanied the letter. Rarely do school-age children contribute like that, a museum official told me.

They'd like to meet her to thank her in person, or at least be able to express their gratitude with a note. Just one problem: The envelope bore no return address. Calls to various McKiernans in the old-fashioned phone book were unproductive.

So Kelsey, if you read this, contact the museum at (209) 577-5366.

TIMELY ARRIVAL

Veterans Day holds a special place in the heart of retired Ripon Police Chief Harvey Douma, 95. Born in 1917, Douma came west a year later. His father wanted to move the family from Michigan to Ripon. He loaded them into a seven-passenger Paige sedan and headed southwest, where they hit the Lincoln Highway, a coast-to-coast road than included parts of U.S. Highways 50, 40, 30 and 1. When the car broke down near Laramie, Wyo., they left it behind, boarded a train and arrived in Ripon at 8 p.m. Dec. 10, 1918.

"The next day, they signed the armistice," Douma said. The armistice ended World War I, and Armistice Day eventually became Veterans Day to honor all veterans.

Douma joined the Merchant Marine during World War II, serving on a troop transport ship. He joined the Ripon Police Department in 1951 and served as its chief from 1963 until his retirement in 1982.

Jeff Jardine's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in Local News. He can be reached at jjardine@modbee.com, @jeffjardine57 on Twitter or at (209) 578-2383.