Alvin Hopkins: I Just want it all to Look Nice!
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There are individuals in communities across America that just want to do something to make their surroundings better. In Chinook, one of those individuals is Alvin Hopkins. A familiar face to most people in town, especially anyone who does business on Main Street, Alvin can be seen nearly every day doing something to make the sidewalks and store fronts look there best. His most recent project has been the landscaping around the Post Office.
Alvin began this project on Sunday, August 28 and has been doing what he can, when he can. Lita Buck, The Postmaster in Chinook commented on Alvin's project, "He didn't approach me or anything, he just started doing it. I said 'Alvin, what are you doing' and he just said, 'keeping my mind busy'." Buck added, He's such a wonderful person and we appreciate him very much. The community is lucky to have someone like him."
Alvin has been battling kidney disease and endures three days of Dialysis each week and despite the heat, he hasn't let any of that deter his effort to make things 'look nice'. "I don't have nothing else to do and I just really want to make it look nice for everybody who stops by," said Alvin. "Compliments are what make it worthwhile. People of all ages stop by and say hi, visit, say something nice and give me a drink of water or maybe a lemonade."
Alvin has done his due diligence to make several main street business storefronts look just a little bit better, "Alvin's always out someplace, sweeping, cleaning doing something to make things look better," said Bryce Weinheimer, owner of the Mint Bar. "He's such a good guy, comes in and has his 7-up and goes about his day." Others have also taken note to Alvin's efforts, "I think it's awesome he keeps his mind busy. Good for him!" said Leanne Haider. "He goes through Dialysis and still has the energy do get the job done, pretty neat."
So, what is Alvin's motivation for doing such a thing, really? "I really say compliments are better than money right now because of everything that's going on right now. Bills are going up, prices are going up and nobody can really afford to pay for stuff like this, so I just want to do my part."
Without a specific agenda to follow, Alvin has his own method for determining what project to take on next, "I go around and look at things, businesses and such and later decide if I want to make it look nicer. The businesses, they don't really have much time to get out of their office and do it, so I try to do it for them," The process is generally well received, "Some will offer to pay, and some will just offer compliments. They make me feel the best, compliments make my day 1,000 times better. Some will say no and that's fine, I just move on to the next project.
It isn't just the business that appreciate his efforts, many in the community have commented on how nice it is to see him doing that around town. Betty Billmayer said, "It's so nice to see him doing that, to see somebody doing good things for somebody else, just because. We need more of that kind of thinking.
As far as his current project goes, it will get done when it gets done and the Post Office and its patrons will be better off because of it. "We have thought about ideas of ways for us to show our appreciation for what he does," said Postmaster Buck. "We'll see what happens!"
