American Legion gifted new snowblower by Alpine Smith after burglary

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Within minutes of the story breaking about a snowblower being stolen from the American Legion Post 795 in South Lake Tahoe, the community stepped up to help.

The first call came from Christina Bicker who offered to donate money to a new one, and if the Legion needed more, she'd buy them the snowblower.

The next call came from Darin Smith, owner of Alpine Smith in South Lake Tahoe for the past twenty years. His snow removal company is also a local Honda product dealer, and he wanted to give the American Legion a new blower.

There was also a call from The Muffler Palace to check if the Legion needed to have one of their snowblowers.

On Friday, Darin and Jenny White, his sales and customer service person, dropped off a brand new Honda H55724ATD, their best-selling model, with a new shovel.

"We're happy to help," said Darin. "You do so much for the community it is the least we could do."

The Legion's snow removal volunteer got instructions from Jenny on how to operate the machine and is ready to go this winter.

Post Commander Tom Millham was warmed by the quick offers from the community to help the Legion. There is still an open stolen property case with the South Lake Tahoe Police Department for the five-year-old Ariens that was stolen last week.

In the picture above, left to right: Al Botello, Wayne McKnight with Rocky, Carol Olivas, Tom Millham, Leroy Garrod, Darin Smith, Jenny White,