CULLMAN, Ala. – When Cullman County was hit with frigid temps over the last several days, and ice made travel treacherous, if not impossible, residents took action and took their love of community to the streets.
Brad Ingram, a retired U.S. Army veteran with 14 years of service under his belt, set out to explore and survey Cullman’s icy roads. While traveling in his Jeep Wrangler he happened upon a stranded car that had slid into the ditch off of a county roadway. Without hesitating, Ingram used his Jeep to pull the vehicle to a safer area. For three days, Ingram used his Wrangler to navigate the slushy and slick streets to search for other troubled travelers, pulling each one he came across to safety or dry land. He said he just did what he felt was right.
“I was raised to love and help the community I lived in,” said Ingram, “and the Cullman family and town is what I love and I will continue to help whenever it’s needed.”
Across the county off U.S. Highway 278 East sits the small town of Holly Pond; with its curvy roads and steep hills and valleys, the town was understandably hit hard by the recent freeze. Many residents prepared to be shut in for one to two days, most certainly not the four or five days the storm demanded. When supplies for their neighbors began to run low, four Holly Pond High School athletes took matters into their own hands – well, ATVs.
The four 16-year-olds used their unexpected break from school to help their neighbors who were stuck inside their homes and unable to get their needed groceries and supplies due to the ice. The band of high school friends consists of Boston Gibbs, Carson Ryan, Brody Howard and Jaxson Robertson. Text messages with meager grocery lists and addresses for delivery was the call to action the group needed. The boys donned their warmest winter and hunting gear, hopped on their ATVs and handled the rest. Gibbs and his friends didn’t ask for delivery fees; they were simply having a good time while making a difference.
“We started to realize that some people in our area couldn’t get to the places they needed to get to like we could, so we thought, ‘Why not help some people out while having fun?’” Gibbs smiled.
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