When Emigration Market at 1300 South and 1700 East closed recently, numerous elderly and infirm neighbors who had depended on the market's unique home delivery service were suddenly left in a bind.

But one of the employees who lost her job in the closure personally contacted those customers and promised to continue getting groceries to their homes until they could make other arrangements.

Her name is Verna Dupaix and the neighbors hope she is one of the former Emigration Market employees who applies with the new Harmons store that will open soon at the site.

Other uplifting stories

A helping hand • A woman with Parkinson's disease was trying to get to a nearby pharmacy in the area of 2100 East and 2100 South on Aug. 22 in her power chair when the chair suddenly veered out of control, fluctuating speeds and changing directions.

She was trying to turn around and go home when a man who was walking his dog in the opposite direction asked her if she needed help. When she acknowledged she was having difficulty, he pushed the chair to her house, walked to his own home where he left his dog, then returned to drive her to the pharmacy.

He went inside and got her meds, then took her back home. She didn't get his name, but she did learn he lives on 2100 East, had lived in the neighborhood for only four months, works at Kennecott as a large-truck mechanic, was a master sergeant in the Army and plans to retire in two years.

A huge 'high five' • One patron would like to give a huge "high five" to the volunteers who paid special attention to the disabled at the "1812 Overture" concert at Deer Valley on Aug. 6.

As a post-surgical attendee in a wheelchair, the patron says the volunteers "took full control of my wheelchair, pulled me up the grassy slope and checked on my comfort throughout the evening."

Another disabled guest visiting from St. Petersburg, Fla., had his motorized chair die on the way from the parking area to the area set aside for the disabled. Volunteer Robert Stevens offered to diagnose the scooter's problem, discovered a blown fuse, retrieved a working fuse from a local garage, replaced it and returned the scooter to working status. "The entire evening was as classy as it gets and this was one small act of kindness that truly deserves mention."

Giving kids a lift • The South Valley Boys and Girls Club lost its two 22-passenger shuttle buses last year when the donor went bankrupt, so about 85 elementary school children since have had to walk through rain and snow to get to the club's Murray facility, executive director Bob Dunn said.

Also, a number of activities had to be scaled back because of the lack of available transportation. When two compressed natural gas vans loaded with safety features became available, the club lacked the funds to buy them, so Chuck Warren of Silver Bullet LLC, who is a longtime board member of the Boys and Girls Club, called to say he and his wife would pay for one of the vans.

Following his example, the next day, another board member, Art Pasker, of Pasker, Ames, Gould & Weaver Architects, called to say he would donate the funds for the second van.

Pro bono publico • Kudos to attorney Wally Bugden, who saw an unjust situation and moved quickly to correct it.

The Deseret News reported on Aug. 24 that Bugden was sitting in 3rd District Judge Randall Skanchy's court waiting on another case when he heard Deputy District Attorney Fred Burmester explain he was holding Andre Hamby as a material witness.

Hamby had testified as a witness in an earlier murder case. But when the Utah Supreme Court overturned the defendant's conviction in 2009, Hamby had moved and was unaware he was being sought to testify in a new trial.

When he learned of a material witness arrest warrant, he turned himself into the U.S. Marshals Service, where he was handcuffed and taken to Utah. He had been sitting in jail when Bugden learned of his plight and offered to represent the man "at no cost to anyone."

Bugden then negotiated the man's release on the condition he would provide detailed contact information and would stay in town until a new trial date was set.

prolly@sltrib.com