SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Hoosier hospitality and that small town spirit was the subject of a baseball mom's Facebook post.
Tara Lutes Rieman called the WRTV news desk to share with us some good news from the community, highlighting the good in our community.
Rieman writes that she was in South Bend for a 4-day baseball tournament.
Her family's hotel room did not have any laundry facilities available and she had uniforms that needed to be washed.
Rieman searched on her phone for a laundromat nearby, but nothing popped up.
That's when she says she sees a woman picking weeds in her garden.
"I then see a woman who looked like Betty White picking weeds in her flower bed at a cute little house next to the field, so I stopped to ask her where their laundromat was in town," Rieman said. "Her name was Shirley, she was 90 years old, and she hated gardening like me!"
Unsure of where the nearest laundromat was located, Shirley calls over to her neighbor Linda.
"Next thing I know, here comes Linda and her husband and they couldn’t have been nicer," Rieman said. "They asked me where I was from and I told them that I am a small town girl as well. She said the closest laundromat was about 25 minutes away and then said, just give them to me and I’ll wash them.”
Rieman declined but Linda persisted, saying she had 3 sons who played baseball and was happy to help.
"She even offered to deliver them to the field! I declined that part for sure and thanked her about 15 times for the help," Rieman said. "And then offered to pay her for the water and soap and her time, but she absolutely refused."
Before Rieman left for her son's game, she helped Shirley pick more weeds from her garden and they complained about the task together.
Then in between games, Rieman came back and saw Linda hung the freshly washed uniforms on the fence for her.
"She even made sure not to dry his pants," Rieman said. "So they wouldn’t shrink."
Before leaving, Rieman left a note and gift card for Shirley and Linda for their help and hospitality.
She ran off before they could give the gift card back.
But writes that the last thing Linda said was, "Baseball moms have to stick together."
And she waved until Rieman drove out of sight.
