MEXICO — On a cold morning on Dec. 23, six members of the Rumford Highway Department hauled two trailers of split firewood to a veteran on Back Kingdom Road.

Superintendent Dale Roberts said close to two cords of wood was delivered to Germain Lapointe.

“It worked out pretty good. He was real happy and was a little emotional,” he said

The concept was spearheaded by employee Andre Carrier.

“With this COVID thing going around, we decided to clear out around the (town highway) garage, Roberts said. “We cut some of the trees in front of the building and out back. That’s when Andre said, ‘Why don’t we see if we could donate some of this wood to a disabled veteran’ instead of running everything through our chipper.”

American Legion Post 24 checked around and Randy Canwell found the name of Germain Lapointe.

Meanwhile, Roberts said they presented the idea to the town manager and the Board of Selectmen, who gave their support.

“The guys came in on their off-time one weekend to split the wood,” he said.

They included Carrier, Rick Blanchard, Alan Carrier, Justin Tidswell and Jacob Coulombe, who, along with Roberts, delivered the firewood. Buddy Tidswell donated his dump trailer to transport some of the wood.

“We just figured we’d try to make a difference, try to help someone out during this COVID time. It was a nice thing to do,” Roberts said.