I took my family out to Gordens the week before New Years to spend some family time in the dunes. While setting up camp I turned to see a little boy on a Honda 90 sitting in my camp with his quad turned off. I looked around and didn't see any adults so I went over to talk to him. I guess he was a little scared as he wouldn't talk to me. I brought my 7 year old daughter over and she started talking to him. He didn't know where his camp was, he wouldn't tell us his name and he couldn't give us a phone number to call his parents. After a few minutes of my daughter talking to him and making him feel comfortable I put his quad in the back of my truck and put him and my daughter in the front seat and we went looking for his camp. My camp was in center field about a mile in from the vendors. I stopped by a few camps with no success. After about the 4th stop a Rhino went by us that the little boy said he recognized. I followed the Rhino back to their camp and it turned out to be the right one. The folks in camp had been frantically looking for the boy for awhile and had called 911. As it turns out the boy was only 3 years old. He had been riding around camp and at some point just rode off. By the time folks realized he was gone he was out of site. My camp was about 3/4 of a mile away from his and the flats were pretty busy. I have to say I felt pretty good inside after I left the camp and so did my daughter. This is another reminder to keep a close eye on the little ones. Things can happen fast.

Nice job takin' care of the little ones SandCrew. And props to your daughter for helping. Shows the great supervision the poor young man had, eh?

What a scary situation to be in, wouldn't wish that upon anyone. It can happen so fast. I know it's easy to blame the parents since at 3 years old and riding, he should have been supervised at all times, who knows what was going on at that camp. But all that aside, It's good to know there are good people like you to take care of those loose ends

Thank goodness the kid stopped in your camp and not some perv's camp or some ddrunks camp who didn't want to get involved in finding his family!

SandCrew1, cheers to you

It is really too bad that it got to that point, but you handled it very well.

I think I smell a DOTM nomination coming your way

Great job to you and your daughter.

Awsome... simply awsome.. Thank you for being the kind of person you are and taking the little guy home...

I would hope that each and every one of us would find the child's parents in that same situation.


Once upon a time, I was setting up camp in the dark and I hooked Jazmin (90 lb black rottie/lab) up to Calvin (18 lb black cocker spaniel) and let them wander together. Big mistake. Jazmin decided she wanted to go exploring and she dragged Calvin with her.

I started looking for them and my cell phone rang. It was the neighboring camp, they asked if I was looking for something?

I went over there and the guy told me I could have the cocker spaniel back, but his wife really wanted to keep Jazmin. I guess I was lucky to get both of them back.



Moral of the story...


if I love my dog enough to put my cell # on her collar, why don't parents put their cell # on their kid's necklace or t-shirt?

Thank you for doing the right thing!!! We need more duners like you out there.

1 "Atta-boy" awarded to you.... nicely done!

Nicely Done!

Much thanks to you and your daughter, I can only imagine how scared the little guy was...

DOTM= Duner of the month & DOTM= Daughter of the month.

Nice job.

X2 on the DOTM nomination - we need more duners like SandCrew1 instead of the bad ones we have been hearing about on the boards lately...

good job.....one more reason why everyone should have one of these for both adults and kids:

Click to view attachment

sorry the pic is so bad, but you get the idea...

PM me for details on how to get one, and they are free.

I just hope nobody gets the wrong idea and thinks you're a perv for fishing around in the back pocket of some kid looking for ID.

Steve, I saw your suggestion topic in the "dunesafe" part of this forum. good ideas.

I dont want to hijack this thread, so if anyone has more suggestions reguarding the dunerID's we can talk about it in there.....thanks

what about a chain and wear it like a necklace (worn under their shirt), teach the kids to show someone if they were to get lost....

Awsome! DOTM for sure!

well done!!!!!

To stay positive, I'll keep the supervision comments to myself.
Nice job mang! I'm in for a DOTM vote.

Can't say the same for the supervision.

First off Great Job on helping that kid out. I have a son that is five and riding and a another getting ready. I would like to think this would never happen as they don't get out of my sight, but you never know.
Glad to see there are good people willing to do the right thing.



Yeah something like the "dog tags" in the military. Can get them in a zillion colors and what not these days. It could be fun for the kids to wear.

Great Job!!!

It is really great to find good people in the Dunes,
I would hope to meet you someday. It is so sad
that a few bad people make it seem like our sport
is full of thought less Jerks. Thanks again...


Buddie

I still think its a good idea to have one for dogs too...... I think Robin said she might can do that.. we have the Duners Id in the buggy, just in case......

Good idea for kids too. The parent could keep one and put one in the kids pocket with a phone number...

Good think Socal had the number on Jazmin or I wouldn't of gotten Calvin back...

I second that...

Good Job Sandcrew1! I know how you feel. I've been there too. The only difference is the kid came walking into camp. He was only about 2. Trust me, I had a few choice words I wanted to say to his parents. I bit my lip though. The kid didn't need to see it after what he had already gone through. Plus you just never know....

Great job!!

I've had an experience like that before. Truely scarey for the kids. We ended up loading little mans bike in the back of my buddies truck and roll around lookin for his camp to find his dad in a panic riding around looking for him. A#1 reason why my little ones ride INSIDE of camp. They can easily get distracted and move 100' out of course and get totally disoriented, especially on a busy weekend.

Great example of what real duners are all about !!! Good deeds are always repaid somewhere down the line. Wish more people were like this guy.

I totally agree with you HV on keeping the little ones INSIDE camp. I don't even let my older kids leave camp without me. I am sure this little guy that came into my camp did just what you mentioned, rode off and got disoriented. He had a number of folks out frantically looking for him, for how long I am not sure. I am just glad it all worked out to a happy ending. My 7 year old daughter felt 10 feet tall after helping this little guy. She talked to him the whole time and got him to smile and feel relaxed instead of scared.

If we go somewhere busy, (such as Disneyland, fair, etc), my wife will write our cell phone numbers on my sons wrist/arm. I think its good because you don't have to worry about him losing something like a wallet, ID, or dog tag. Plus, he likes showing off his "tatoo"

Nicely done Sand Crew!

As for the parents, I guess I'm not nice enough to give them the benefit of the doubt. Too many stories this year from all duning areas that just make we wonder what people are thinking.