Southampton - When Selectman Douglas Blanchard showed up on the doorsteps of residents whose homes were without power for days after the Oct. 29 snowstorm, some may have thought he was a guardian angel.

Blanchard, a master electrician, spent days driving around the town with a generator in his truck, stopping at the homes of elderly residents, those with children or others in need, to give them power for about an hour, all completely free.

Blanchard, of Blanchard & Daly Electrical Contractors, said he kept thinking about how residents' homes were getting colder, their well pumps weren't working and food was spoiling in their refrigerators. Since he had access to one of the city's generators and the expertise to hook it up safely, he decided to do something about it.

"I'd get the house going and then tell them, 'you've got heat, you've got water, you've got hot water, take a shower, make coffee, do what you need to do.'" he said. "It was just about helping people, and it worked out wonderfully."

People were so grateful to have power, even for just an hour, that they "just went nuts," he said. "I think I stopped at 28 homes," he said Friday. "They couldn't believe it. I got so many hugs."

- REBECCA EVERETT