It was a cold, spitty evening, but the much-anticipated tow truck parade held Friday night went off (you could say) without a hitch.
The parade was held in honor of 88-year old Ruth Childs, who had come to enjoy seeing the same truck pass by her Holt Rd. apartment window around the same time every evening. She described it as a “long white truck with a lot of lights.” Her daughter Bonnie Smorol shared Ruth’s story on Facebook, asking if anyone knew who the truck driver was, so perhaps on her birthday Friday night, he (or she) could flash their lights and beep the horn. (Read the whole story on the blog I wrote.)
Of course, the Webster community being what it is, that simple request turned into a full-blown truck parade as one company after another offered to help celebrate Ruth’s birthday in a big way.
By last week, at least seven companies from all around Rochester had joined the call. Last Friday night at 6:30 p.m., they met on the south end of the Wegmans parking lot, and by the time they’d all arrived, almost two dozen tow trucks, flatbed trailers, utility vehicles, pickup trucks and even a few SUVs, were lined up and ready to roll, led by two Webster police cars and trailed by a WVFD firetruck.
I’m not sure about everyone else, but I thought the trucks were simply going to drive by Ruth’s Legends at North Ponds apartment along Holt Rd., much like the “long white truck” does every evening. But the truckers had other ideas.
Ruth — who was wearing a birthday tiara and grasping a beautiful bouquet of flowers — knew something was going to happen, but didn’t know what. She was waiting outside the Legends lobby, looking adorable with a birthday tiara and a bouquet of flowers, accompanied by her daughter Bonnie, several other family members, friends and Legends residents.
After pausing at the Legends driveway to make sure everyone was assembled, one by one, each truck pulled right into the circle driveway in front of the apartment complex. Then every driver climbed down from their trucks, gathered around Ruth and sang Happy Birthday.
It was a touching moment that brought Ruth to tears. She shook hands with several of the drivers, one even offering to take her for a tow truck ride some day. Unfortunately, the “long white truck” driver is still a mystery, but I think everyone else made up for it. It was an amazing outpouring of community support, and a great example of how people can make a difference when they work together. It made me proud to say I live in Webster.
I’ve posted a few photos and the video here, but you can see a larger collection in this gallery. A huge thank you to Jet Thomas for sending me some of his photos and video. Channel 10 was there as well, and posted this really nice story. I especially like hearing the reaction from the studio crew in the background when it ran.
Thank you to the truck companies and drivers who made this happen, to Rachael Davey from Ricci and Sons Towing for pulling it all together.
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(posted 1/28/2024)
webster on the web 
fun, fun, fun. thanks for catching this goodwill event.