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January 7, 2013
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Association Raises Cash for Sick Boy By Jeffrey Bellant
Rush - Dated Material
The Ohio Independent Automobile Dealers Association recently named its Quality Dealer of the Year, but an eight-year-old boy stole the show. The Ohio IADA named Jeff Smiley, of Smiley Automotive in Norwalk, Ohio, as the Quality Dealer of the Year during its recent convention. “He’s just a regular guy,” said Ohio IADA executive director James Mitchell. “But he does so much and supports his community and church.” But the highlight of the event was what dealers did for London Maynard, who suffers from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Mitchell said. Mitchell said he recently learned about the boy’s struggle from John Fitzgerald, a salesman at Hugh White Honda in Colum-
bus. Fitzgerald had served with London’s dad, Larry, during the Vietnam War. The pair had pledged that if they made it home safely, they would be there for each other if needed. So Maynard told Fitzgerald about his son. Fitzgerald asked Mitchell to send a notice out to members to see if folks would pray for London and send him cards. “(London) is fighting the fight of his life,” Mitchell said. London recently underwent a bone marrow transplant and was recovering at the Ronald McDonald House with his mother in Columbus, Ohio, at press time. So a planned fundraiser for the association’s PAC and a charity turned into an impromptu benefit for London instead, Mitchell said. “This thing took on a life of it’s own,” he said. Mark Reis, a guitar tech and musician who has toured with some of rock’s biggest bands, has worked with drummer Joe Vitale and Mitchell to raise funds for his charity and the Ohio IADA. He provided several items of memorabilia for the event. One item was a race jacket worn by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Mark Meadows, co-owner with the 2011 National
Photo Courtesy of Ohio IADA GRATEFUL DAD: Larry Maynard (left), thanks dealers at the Ohio Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s annual convention. The group raised more than $15,000 for his son, London, who is battling cancer. Jim Mitchell, the group’s executive director, stands with Maynard.
Quality Dealer of the year Mike D’Andrea of Miracle Motor Mart, won the jacket with a top bid of $2,500. But after paying his money, he dona ted the jacket back to be re-auctioned. The second time it raised an additional $4,000, Mitchell said. Other items, including Eagles concert t-shirts signed by the band members, were also auctioned off. Then a dealer put a $20 bill in a bucket and passed it around to raise more money.
In the end, the association’s members raised more than $15,000 for London, Mitchell said. “I could not believe what I was watching,” Mitchell said. Tim Swift, a past president of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, was at the event and said it was a special moment. “I was sitting a table away from the father and I can tell you it was a very moving moment to watch as the money came in,” Swift said.
“I also had the opportunity to talk with Larry (the father) later and he was absolutely beside himself at the generosity of the Ohio dealers and sponsors.” Mitchell said dealers showed again how much they care. The group also gave Alexis Jacobs of Columbus Fair Auto Auction its first Lifetime Achievement Award. Jacobs, among her other achievements, founded the association as the Automobile Dealers Alliance of Ohio in 1985.
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