Edgerton Mayor Don Roberts and his wife, Shelby, did not plan on rescuing anyone Sunday during a historic blizzard in Johnson County.
“There was no way I could let a 75-year-old woman left out in that weather, sitting on the side of the road,” Shelby Roberts said. “She had no clue where she was.”
The motorist in question, MJ Bayne, was traveling south on Interstate 35 from Iowa on her way to Nevada to take care of an ailing friend. Bayne, whose husband died two years ago following a stroke, was traveling alone.
Highways closed throughout northeast and central Kansas on Sunday afternoon due to the unsafe driving conditions from the blizzard, made worse by blowing snow, wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour and low visibility.
The region received nearly a foot of snow by storm’s end.
Bayne said even though she had lived in Alaska for several years and was also aware of the blizzard, she hadn’t prepared to get stuck.
“I am very lucky,” she said on Monday. “I met some really nice people and plan to come back to visit in July for the July 3rd town event.”
Shelby Roberts said she responded to the situation after her husband, the mayor, saw a social media post from a local resident saying someone was stuck south of town.
Roberts said she had spent the day making sure everyone in Edgerton was safe on the roads, even rescuing a stuck sheriff’s deputy’s vehicle with their own GMC truck with four-wheel drive.
Then, they came across Bayne around mile marker 201 between Edgerton and Wellsville, near where Johnson, Franklin and Miami counties come together.
“We had planned to pull her out and send her on her way,” she said, but they quickly realized that may not be wise.
“There was no way to pull her out without getting stuck ourselves or being hit on the highway,” she said.
Roberts said the safer decision was to take Bayne in their truck back to the Roberts’ home in town overnight and have the stuck vehicle towed.
After Bayne was safe inside their truck and they had turned back toward Edgerton, Roberts made arrangements with Marvin’s Tow Service in Spring Hill to pick up Bayne’s car.
“Danielle and Marvin Vail stepped up big time,” Shelby Roberts said. “They were the safest thing for the situation. Major kudos to the Vails.”
At their home, the Roberts gave Bayne fuzzy socks, a homemade chili dinner and a comfortable bed to sleep in for the night.
“She fit right in,” Shelby Roberts said. “She fell in love with the town.”
Roberts said she had never personally invited a stranger to stay over, but grew up with a truck driver father who always had strangers staying over.
Mayor Roberts’ own father was a mechanic who also allowed strangers to stay over while preparing their vehicles.
“It is the way we grew up — always helping someone else,” Shelby Roberts said. “We were bred into this. It was a natural thing to jump in and take care of the situation.”
