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(L to R) Tammy Ply, Lesa Brown and Shirley
Ply supervise my truck repair.
Do you believe in angels? I am a
firm believer that we all have guardian angels watching over us
everyday. My guardian angel has to work overtime to keep me out
of trouble, especially on the water! I also believe there are
angels on earth who come into our lives for a reason. I will be
forever grateful to four of those angels in Harrison, Arkansas.
After fishing the WBT tournament on
Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Arkansas, my husband Dennis and
I decided to head for Bull Shoals, the next tournament site.
Bull Shoals is located on the Arkansas/Missouri border near
Branson, Missouri. I wanted to check out the lake and the local
bait shops to see what I could find out before official
practice. As we were driving through Harrison, Arkansas, I
noticed that my truck was acting weird. My sister Denese, who
was behind us in her car called me to ask why there was so much
smoke coming from the exhaust on my truck. She could hardly see
to drive. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw a cloud of
white smoke. Dennis was driving and I told him to PULL OVER!
I have always been told that black
smoke meant oil problems and white smoke meant water problems. I
knew without a doubt that my truck had blown a head gasket. We
were 1000 miles away from home and in the middle of Arkansas on
a Sunday. I had another tournament to fish in two weeks. My
truck was loaded down with fishing equipment and for once I was
glad I wasn’t pulling my bass boat. I had to make some quick
decisions as to what to do.
It suddenly occurred to me that we
were in Harrison, Arkansas. I knew of 3 anglers who lived in
Harrison. I had the phone number for two of those anglers. I
thought that maybe they could recommend a repair shop. I have
always been leery of auto repair shops taking advantage of
out-of-state customers and I was at their mercy in this
situation.
I dialed the phone number I had for
Lesa Brown and Tammy Ply. They are WBT anglers that I have
become acquainted with in recent years. I was so happy when I
heard Tammy's voice on the other end of the phone line. I told
her where we were. She said that if the truck would make it, her
mother’s house was close by. She and Lesa would meet us and we
could follow them there. They arrived 10 minutes later. We had
to keep stopping to put water in the radiator, but we finally
made it to Shirley Ply’s house where we pulled the truck under
her carport.
Dennis said he could fix my truck,
all he needed was the parts and some tools. Shirley said we
could work on it under her carport. Her boyfriend, Ray Wommack,
said we could use any of his tools that we needed. Tammy said we
could use her truck to go after parts and get back and forth to
the motel for as long as we needed it. What more could we ask
for?
We spent the next 5 days as
mechanics. Dennis had to take almost everything out to get to
the heads. There were parts everywhere and we labeled many of
them so we would know where they went when we started putting
everything back together. I was the official parts washer. There
was sludge on all the engine parts where the water and oil had
mixed together. Dennis also had me assist by handing him the
wrenches he needed. I even got to turn a wrench or two during
the process.
Lesa and Tammy came by everyday
after work to check on our progress. Shirley cooked two
fantastic meals for us that week. She left her home unlocked so
we could use her bathroom facilities and wash clothes. Ray would
come in from work and help Dennis remove stubborn and hard to
reach parts. Sometimes he would be under the truck while Dennis
worked from above. We were amazed and grateful for their
hospitality. To be broke down in unfamiliar surroundings, we
could not have been more comfortable. Tammy and Lesa even took
me to their favorite local tackle shop one evening.
Dennis and I finally got the truck
put back together, but had to get a real mechanic to come to the
house and adjust the valves and set the timing. Other than that,
we did great! I learned a lot about engines. Dennis saved me a
lot of money in repair fees.
Tammy, Lesa,
Shirley and Ray were our rescue angels. They helped us without
hesitation and treated us like family. There really are angels
in Arkansas!
My husband Dennis worked hard to
fix my truck
so we could make it to Bull Shoals.
This is an exhaust manifold
(I think....).
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YAKIMA BAIT COMPANY
