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Mystery solved after neighbors discover man helping with garbage bins in winter

Grand Chute Wisconsin rubbish bin helper
Posted at 4:49 PM, Feb 01, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-01 18:49:10-05

It was a mystery for one Wisconsin family when, after garbage day, their trash bin would move from the street and then reappear back by their house. But, the mystery was soon solved and a new friendship was born.

Melody Luttenegger of Grand Chute, Wisconsin decided to wait outside of her home and try to see who was being so helpful and moving the bins, WFRV reported.

“It was so strange because all of a sudden our garbage cans were just showing up,” Luttenegger said. “We have such a long driveway and I thought maybe the garbage company is bringing our garbage,” she said.

“I asked my husband, and he’s like, ‘no, I’m not bringing the garbage cans up,’” she said.

She said it was the day before Christmas Eve when she and her son decided to stand outside and wait. That's when her neighbor, 75-year-old Dick Pontzloff, came walking up the driveway carrying the garbage cans.

Pontzloff said, “When I retired, I got sick of doing nothing, so I started going around and picking up garbage cans. Not just certain ones, everyone’s.”

He said he enjoys getting out in the brisk cold Wisconsin winter helping out the community.

“I’ve been from Wisconsin most of my life. I’ve always loved winter,” he said.

And so he goes, riding his bike from house to house helping to take trash bins up on garbage day.

“For someone random to just do that, it doesn’t go unnoticed,” said Luttenegger. “You know the kindness that strangers give is an unexplainable feeling. And he doesn’t even realize how nice of a gesture it is and how much we appreciate it,” she told WFRV.

Luttenegger says that she and her son now wait outside for Dick every Thursday to say hello.