Meet the Olympic torch runner from Murfreesboro

Good morning, friends, this is Tennessean columnist Brad Schmitt, in New York City this morning with my youngest nephew, who recently graduated from high school.

Sam, my nephew, has always wanted to go to the Big Apple, and said he wanted to make his first trip there with his uncles. 🍎 Ain't that sweet?

On to the rest of the week's good news!

Monsieur, will you start running with that torch, s'il vous plait?

Tire plant manager Andre Hillsman of Murfreesboro got the honor of a lifetime July 5 by running about 200 yards with the Olympic torch in France.

So how does a 48-year-old guy who works in Bridgestone's tire plant in La Vergne, Tennessee, end up in France wearing a sleek white uniform and carrying the Olympic torch? Turns out Bridgestone is a big-time sponsor and partner of the Olympics, and the company got to choose five employees from the Western Hemisphere to be part of the torch relay that precedes the Paris 2024 games.

Bridgestone ran a contest asking employees to nominate others who've made a positive impact on their lives and careers — and Andre got more votes than anyone else in the company. How awesome!

Andre ended up running in Roeun, France, a town the size of Murfreesboro that sits about two hours northeast of Paris.

"My location happened to be near a school, and seeing all the small children so ecstatic for my arrival and my moment was so [heartwarming]," he wrote in an email to Bridgestone PR folks.

"If there was ever a time to feel like a superhero or a famous athlete, it was this moment with this group of children. There were smiling faces and picture requests at every turn," Andre wrote.

"The torch relay security told me it was time to start running, but I wanted to keep soaking in that moment because all of the children wanted a chance to get close to the torch."

Making the experience even more special — Andre went with his family, and they all stayed for another week or so to travel around Europe.

"I feel blessed and honored to have had this opportunity to represent Bridgestone, my country as an American, and the privilege to have carried something as historic as the Olympic Flame," he wrote.

"You have only four spaces for your Mount Rushmore in life. This experience that Bridgestone provided for me and my family is now definitely one of the spots on my personal Mount Rushmore."

A stranger bought the flowers for their dad's funeral

Sisters Kelly and Lindsay McDonald of Dickson, Tennessee, have been through a lot. In 2015, their little sister was killed. And nine days ago, their dad, Timothy, died unexpectedly at age 62.

"As you can imagine, my sister and I were pretty tore up," Kelly emailed me.

The sisters went into Sunshine Flowers in Lebanon a few days before their dad's July 11 funeral. They wanted an arrangement to put on top of their dad's casket.

That's when another customer they didn't know walked up and said it was on her heart to pay for the flowers. The woman also prayed over the sisters right there in the flower shop.

"I'm definitely grateful how God shows up in tough situations," Kelly said. "Grateful for selflessness in other humans and for her doing it not for praise but out of the goodness of her heart."

Kelly, by the way, told me she never got the woman's name, but she'd love to find out who that woman is so Kelly can thank her one more time. If you happen to know, please find me at brad@tennessean.com .

Thank you for spending another week with me and the Good News with Brad Schmitt. Your friends can sign up to get this newsletter emailed to them every Friday at tennessean.com/goodnews .

I'd love to hear about the good news from your part of Tennessee. Find me at brad@tennessean.com . Dig into more feel-good stories below.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Meet the Olympic torch runner from Murfreesboro