Jeff Has A Close Encounter Of The Kemps Ice Cream Kind

Photo By John Hoff

So my friend Jeff Skrenes (above, looking pensive) almost got killed a few days ago, thanks to a truck from Kemps Ice Cream. It went like this...

Jeff, the Housing Director of Hawthorne, was beginning a 20-mile ride on Saturday, October 11, from the Hawthorne Neighborhood down the river parkway to the midtown greenway, then back up Theo Wirth through the nature preserve. He describes this as "a great ride, by the way."

Jeff was at the corner of Broadway and 4th and preparing to turn left. He was behind an SUV waiting to do the same thing. Jeff was at "what would normally be a safe distance" when the driver of a semi began to "bully" so he could turn.

The driver of the semi had the green light, but not enough space to make a right turn toward the Kemps Ice Cream parking lot. Instead, the SUV driver had to quickly throw his vehicle into reverse to avoid a collision. Jeff said "I should point out that I could clearly see the Kemps driver, meaning that I was also in HIS line-of-sight."

So the SUV kicked it into reverse before seeing Jeff, and ran over Jeff's front tire. But not Jeff. Jeff was, himself, moving backward but obviously not fast enough.

The driver of the SUV was "a good Samaritan" and made sure Jeff was OK. It turned out the driver had lived in the Hawthorne neighborhood for the past 15 years. The SUV driver threw Jeff's bike in the back of his vehicle and went to talk to the driver who (predictably) insisted it was all the SUV's fault and he wasn't responsible for ANYTHING.

So Jeff and the SUV driver took the plate number of the SUV and left. The SUV driver brought Jeff to a bike shop which was, actually, along Jeff's route. Not just any old bike shop, Jeff noted, but the driver cared enough to keep Jeff ON HIS PRE-PLANNED ROUTE. The Good Samaritan in an SUV bought Jeff a new tire, which cost $83 and some cents.

Both Jeff and the driver agreed the whole thing was really the fault of Kemps, and Kemps should reimburse the SUV driver. But messages and attempts to approach Kemps about it have been, so far, unsuccessful. (An idea for Jeff: Just pin a note to one of the houses near Kemps, the ones they are lusting over for expansion and parking lots. That way they're sure to see it!)

Ironically, Jeff's family in Upper Michigan used to sell all their milk to Kemps. It's a small, creamy world.