Jewel Sams, One in a Million

Jewel Sams
Paducah, Kentucky

Jewel Sams is the man who installed the training wheels on my bike otherwise known as a Voyager Kit.  I love it and it keeps me and my bike from falling over.  

Last Sunday Sharon, Scott, Jimmy & I started out on a day trip which Sharon had invited us on.  We ended up in Princeton, Kentucky and decided to spend the night there.  I left a comment on my brother's blog telling him that we were close by and invited him and Laurel to come out and have a bite to eat with us, which they did.  We also saw Tina & Allen and their family that night and were treated by them to a smoothie from McDonald's. 

I really wanted to see Mr. Sams to get him to fix my bike since we were so close, but we all decided to head for home the next morning.  But as we started towards home Sharon made a suggestion that I couldn't refuse....

She told me to stay behind to visit with the family and to call Mr. Sams to see if he could check my bike out and fix it.  It was Labor Day, Allison, Jason and the kids were coming to see her dad & mom, and Laurel was cooking up a storm.  How could I go home with so many temptations begging me to stay?  Jimmy & I spent Monday with the family eating, visiting and just having a good time.  I called Mr. Sams on Labor Day and he told me to bring my bike to him the next morning and he would take a look at it.

We arrived at Jewel Sams house early and just as he promised he looked at my bike and said he needed to make some adjustments and went straight to work on it.  He worked on my bike as we sat by and drank cold pop from his fridge.  When he was finished we tried to pay him for a job well done and he wouldn't accept our cash.  It was like trying to stuff a little cash into grandma's apron....You stuff it in and she hands it right back to you.  This exchange went back and forth several times until I finally made a suggestion.  I told him that we were making a donation for the pop he offers to his patrons.  He still tried to give us our money back but we finally got him to keep some of it for the cold pop that's free for the taking.  He didn't take all of it because he said it was too much money, but I hope to make it up to him some way.  My brother Dennis suggested that we send him a gift since we know where he lives and that sounds like a nice thing for us to do for him.  Maybe several more cases of pop might be nice, because I don't think I can afford to send him parts for his old Indian motorcycle that he has restored beautifully plus added a Voyager Kit to it.    

How do you suppose a nice man like Mr.Sams stays in business?  We met him about 4 years ago and have referred everyone who has inquired about the extra wheels, the Voyager Kit, on my bike to him because he was so kind to us the first time we met him.  He couldn't of treated us any better if we had been his children.  We were so impressed by his kindness and his good heart.  I'm sure that everyone who has met Mr. Sams doesn't mind doing a little advertising for him.  Word of mouth goes a long way.

To see more pictures of Mr. Sams and his Indian, our travels with Sharon & Scott, and our visit with family CLICK HERE.