Maryland governor to honor couple that distributed hundreds of loaves of bread to stranded I-95 drivers

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) will award citations to a couple that distributed almost 600 loaves of bread to drivers stranded on the gridlocked I-95 earlier this week after a major winter storm hit the East Coast.

Hogan will honor Casey Holihan and John Noe, as well as H&S Bakery, a small business that provided the couple with the bread.

The governor announced the news on Twitter Thursday, tagging a story about the couple from local news outlet CBS Baltimore and calling out the pair’s “incredible selflessness.”

I will be awarding governor’s citations to Casey Holihan and John Noe, as well as H&S Bakery, for their incredible selflessness in helping people stranded on I-95 in Virginia earlier this week. https://t.co/DCzSWzLmQ5

— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) January 6, 2022

The couple, from Ellicott City, Md., were traveling to North Carolina when the snowstorm hit on Monday morning and froze up a roughly 50-mile stretch of I-95, trapping hundreds of motorists on the highway for hours on end.

The couple spotted a truck from Schmidt Baking Company, part of H&S Family of Bakeries, on the road and joked about getting bread.

“We kind of made a joke about how nice it would be to just even have a loaf of bread right then because we haven’t eaten in about 37 hours,” Holihan told CBS Baltimore.

It was going to be the roadtrip from hell but Casey Holihan and her husband, John Noe, didn’t know that when they left their home in Ellicott City, Md., around 11 a.m. Monday morning. The couple leaves for Germany next week for Noe’s job in the Air Force.https://t.co/udiq6SW6z9

— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) January 6, 2022

On a “whim,” Holihan called up the company and was put in touch with owner Chuck Paterakis, who instructed the driver to give two to three loaves of bread to each person who asked.

“One of our mission statements is to create a meaningful change in our community and I think this was an example of how we live by that,” Paterakis told CBS Baltimore.

Noe said on NBC that he “personally got a loaf of potato rolls.”

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” he said.

The couple, along with the driver, ended up passing out as many loaves of bread as possible to travelers stuck on a two-mile stretch of I-95.

“It was the best loaf of bread I have ever eaten in my entire life,” Holihan said.