Kirk C. Watkins, Jamestown.

“Looking for my blk. Toyota Tundra that went missing last nite....”

At 10:37 a.m. on January 16, 2021 this message appeared on the Jamestown QT, a community communication blog that many of the mountain communities use to share information. On this occasion the poster was Dreadlocless George. A longtime resident of Jamestown and the areas surrounding, Dreadlocless George, or George Ridgik, is as essential to the town as anyone. 

His next post came that afternoon at 5:52 p.m.

“Yes. It is a fact that’ my 2005 blk. Toyota Tundra was stolen from main st. In Jamestown last night along with most of my tools and ski gear etc…”

According to the thread on the QT that day, more than one car in Jamestown had been rifled through. The reports of illicit activities were repeated by numerous members of town, and from different locations. Footage from different cameras around town were reviewed in search of the perpetrator(s). 

Offers of replacement ski gear, tools and equipment were posted on the QT for Ridgik. The Mayor, Tara Schoedinger, along with the staff at “The Merc,” created a Go-Fund-Me account which raised over $11,000 in a matter of days. 

Schoedinger had written in the Go-Fund-Me description, “If you know George, then you know how huge his heart is! He truly is one of the kindest souls and it’s devastating anyone would do this, and even more devastating that this happened to George. This truck allowed George to feed his passion of helping people. He has made countless trips over the last year to Navajo Nation to deliver donated water cisterns and other needed items.” 

Jamie Priera, who works at the Merc, had this to say about George, “He’s the most selfless human I’ve ever met. Honestly, the most kind and gentle soul that is always willing to put others before himself. Even on a bad day, he still carries a smile and a positive attitude.”

And then the story took a twist. The truck was found. 

Dear friends and neighbors,       

First, it is with the deepest of gratitude that I wanted to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your generous donations. I am so blown away and brought to tears thinking of the kindness that this community and others have shown me. Thank you.

With that I wanted to give you all an update...the truck has been found. Sadly, it had been stolen by a homeless addict and was found trashed with needles, drug paraphernalia, etc. 

As you all may know, this truck has served me and others well by making many trips to help our brothers and sisters in the Navajo Nation. With some thought and because you all have afforded me the option to pay it forward, I’ve decided to donate this truck (after being repaired and professionally cleaned) to our friends at the Nation. I will purchase another used truck to continue the work we’ve started.

With that, it weighs on me to be the recipient of such overwhelming generosity, especially now since the truck has been unexpectedly found. I cannot honestly accept this money without first offering a refund to anyone who donated that may no longer feel comfortable given the latest update. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if that is the case. 

Again, I cannot thank you all enough. While my truck being stolen has felt like a step back, you all have given me an amazing opportunity to take five meaningful steps forward towards continued efforts to help those who are in the struggle with alcohol and drug addiction. It has been my passion to help others heal through aviation and therapeutic flying and my non-profit, Arizenfly, will receive the loving boost it needs to continue pressing forward. And for that, I will be forever grateful.

Love,

George

The community urged George to keep the money and to continue his work taking supplies and donations to the communities that he has supported. 

George took some time to speak with The Mountain-Ear about the events of the preceding week. He said that the truck had been stolen from Jamestown and was found days later along with the kid who had stolen it. He said that the perpetrator, who was around thirty years old, was booked and released due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and was not required to post bail to get out of jail.

Ridgik described what he felt was one of the underlying issues. “In any country, if they have a good drug or methadone program, the crime rate goes way down. If they don’t, addicts are going to get what they need,” he said, “I look at the picture of him, He’s probably twenty-nine, thirty years old, probably a good kid, you know. Somewhere in there is a good kid, you know, who has a wicked drug problem. His theft record goes back to 2015 in Boulder; theft, theft, shoplifting, theft, controlled substance, theft.”

Ridgik continued, “Without any help, he spent a week in jail, ten days maybe. And now he’s back, running around Boulder. I’m sure he still has a drug habit, it’s not like he went to rehab. Unfortunately, there’s probably going to be more victims. I don’t know if he’ll come back to Jamestown.” 

As for the now famous truck, its story is rapidly developing. Earlier during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ridgik had reconnected with his friend Denise Luttrell, who was organizing trips between Jamestown to the Navajo Reservation in the New Mexico / Arizona borderlands. He began using his truck to transport supplies and do various projects. 

“It’s been involved in water catchment systems and various solar projects that people are running, so man I don’t know. Must have done five trips since this summer down there with a trailer full of water. My buddy from Eco-Cycle is donating water bins, the big white ones, they had a bunch of them down there. So, every time they got eight, I would bring them down there,” said Ridgik, “so the trucks brought a lot of food, Covid relief supplies, winter gear, every time down there I was very thankful, because you go way back in the middle of nowhere on the res [sic] to deliver tanks to people off of the grid.”

“It’s a big thing we’ve been supporting them being able to grow their own vegetables down there with the water, they’ve been putting up water catchment systems all up around the farm. And the farm trucks are always needed, so they have to go to a well outside of town, so with a truck like this they can put two tanks in and fill them up.” 

After he got the truck back, he was uncertain how to proceed. “I’ve asked people if they wanted it back, if they wanted the donations back and it seems they just want me to pass it on.” Ridgik plans to donate the truck and purchase another with the money raised by the Go-Fund-Me account. “So, I figured the best way to do it was to pass this one and get a different truck. Keep doing what I’m doing, running supplies down there and any remaining money will go to my non-profit flying thing, which is Arizenfly.” 

The non-profit Arizenfly was developed by Ridgik for people suffering with traumatic stress, depression, alcohol or drug addiction, and at-risk teens that need a little guidance and inspiration through flight. He hopes with enough money, one day, he’ll be able to get a second plane and develop scholarships so that people would have the $10,000 they need to earn their pilots license and grow with a new purpose. For more information check out https://www.facebook.com/arizenfly/. 

(Originally published in the February 4, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)