2009 car winners zeal for life key to GPI contest
By Dave Mast
January 4, 2010
660
While those going through hardships often are on the verge of becoming weepy when life seemingly deals them one rough situation after another, for one local resident who is facing plenty of adversity, the tears shed on Wednesday, Dec. 23 were not those of sadness, but rather of extreme joy.
John Rippeth was honored as the 2009 winner of the Graphic Publications, Inc. Give a Car for Christmas, having been chosen from many applicants whose names were submitted as part of the car contest by family and friends. The 2007 Chevy Aveo was awarded to Rippeth at Chuck Nicholson Auto Superstore, where friends, family and sponsors gathered to celebrate what was an extremely festive occasion.
Rippeth, a Killbuck native who drives truck for a living, recently lost his leg when diabetes created an ulcer on his left foot, which turned into gangrene. He eventually had to have the leg amputated just below the knee, but only after having battled with the life-threatening illness. He is slated to have surgery in January and will eventually be fitted with a prosthetic.
Merry Christmas, said Lee Ann Miller, host of Amish Country Living, as she handed Rippeth the keys to his new car, setting off yet another wave of emotion during an evening already full of them. Miller said that the opportunity for those sponsoring the event to give something to someone who is obviously under a great deal of hardship and stress underlines the power of giving, and means much to those who are giving, as well as receiving.
For Rippeth, the contest marked some good news in a very tough year.
Im speechless, just speechless, said a teary-eyed Rippeth, who celebrated with family and friends as Miller, founder of the car giveaway, handed him the keys to the blue 2007 Chevy Aveo. This kind of thing just doesnt ever happen to me. This is never the way our luck goes. I just kept looking at my wife saying, This cant be happening. It has to be a dream. But it is real, and we feel extremely fortunate and blessed to be honored in this way.
Even after Miller went to the Rippeth home to inform John that he had won the car, he still considered it a dream. The emotions poured out, however, as family and friends helped him celebrate at Chuck Nicholsons Auto Super Store on the evening of the actual presentation.
This just couldnt have possibly come for us at a better time, said Rippeth. Words cannot describe how unbelievable this feels. All we had to drive was my dads van, and we are down to Kims income, and it has been a tough time. We knew we needed a vehicle, but werent sure how it was ever going to happen. Thanks is not enough to everyone who made this possible, but thank you very much to all of you. Youll never know how much this means to us that there are people out there who still care this much.
In the contest, Ohios Amish Country and Amish Country Living Web sites hosted the contest, where submissions of personal stories that demonstrated the urgency in the prospective winners need for a car were submitted. Entries could only be submitted on behalf of someone else. The submissions were received between Nov. 30 and Dec. 14, and all entries were read, and whittled down to 10 finalists, who were interviewed Dec. 15 and 16.
Rippeths name was entered into the contest by his mother, Lou Ann Rippeth, who saw the contest and immediately though of her son and his family.
I knew they had a lot of hardships with John losing his leg and with Kims trouble with her eyesight, and I just felt they were very deserving of having something special happen to them, said Lou Ann.
The interview committee was made up of several people from the sponsoring groups, including Miller, Chuck and Barry Nicholson and Chad Stutzman. To a person, one of the attributes which Rippeth displayed when he was called in for his interview was his dogged desire to not let the pitfalls of life get him down.
Here was this guy with all of these problems, and we all were extremely touched by his desire to beat this and get back on track, said Stutzman.
His drive to not let all of these things beat him was what truly stood out to me, agreed Chuck Nicholson. Here was a guy who was basically out of options and had every right to be bitter and down on life, but he was willing to fight. That impressed us.
Rippeth himself reiterated that point on Dec. 23, vowing that he would come back stronger than ever.
Ive got a great family, and I am not going to stop living just because of the things that life has dealt me, said Rippeth. Things like this only make me want to try even harder to live life to the fullest, because I feel like Im surrounded by people who care so much.
The sponsors for the event included Chuck Nicholson Auto Superstore, Troyers Country Market, Troyer Cheese, Coblentz Chocolate, Berlin Village Gift Barn, Graphic Publications, Inc., Amish Country Living, Finish Line Auto Body, Boyd & Wurthmann Restaurant, Keim Lumber, TV2/Prestige Creative Marketing, Natures Food Market, P. Graham Dunn, The Commercial & Savings Bank and Hummel Insurance. Friends who gave included Matt Beres, Jim Marshall, the Honigford family, the Fincher family, the Wheeler family and Ben Starling.
