An elderly man named Spud who had no way of getting to the Idaho Potato Drop, gets a ride arranged for free.

Thanks to our kind Treasure Valley community, an older Boise couple’s wish to go to the Idaho Potato Drop has been fulfilled!

Ever since the tradition of the giant spud dropping at midnight began, Spud and Sharon Watkins have always wanted to go.

“We know that they created that giant potato several years ago and we have always wanted to see that,” Spud said. “And then the connection with the spuds and we have been to the spud shop and all these things, but we want to see that giant spud.”

And yes, the man’s birth name is “Spud.”

Spud says when he was born his mother was unconscious and she didn’t have a name picked out.

Spud’s father thought he looked like a little potato, so he told the doctor to put “Spud” on the birth certificate.

Now in his seventies, Spud has suffered several strokes and his wife Sharon recently broke her back.

The couple can’t drive much anymore, and they don’t have the Uber app or the money for a taxi on New Year’s Eve, so they asked the community if someone would be willing to give them a ride to the Idaho Potato Drop.

“We watch it every year on TV and we talk about it amongst ourselves and it would be awesome, it really would,” Sharon said. “Especially because time is going by and we just want to have a good memory.”

Within minutes of Spud and Sharon’s story airing on KTVB’s News at 4 p.m., a kind, anonymous stranger offered to pay for the couple’s ride to and from the Idaho Potato Drop.