Payne Jeep raises $44,500

The winner of the Payne Jeep was Janis Franklin of Kennesaw, Georgia.

A great big thank you to all who helped pull off this great event. And, to the countless people who donated their time and labor, the businesses who donated the critical parts, and the wonderful people who bought the 1,370 tickets that were sold.

Almost one year ago today, my good friend Robin was on her way home from work. It was a dark, rainy evening and the Atlanta weather had been quite wet for several days prior. According to the accident report, Robin's Ford Explorer apparently hydroplaned and veered off the road. The vehicle struck two trees, the second of which caused massive damage to the rear of the vehicle. Robin's seat broke loose, allowing her to be thrown into the rear right passenger door. Robin was found by another motorist who noticed the headlights shining up from the low area where her Explorer came to rest after the accident. This “Good Samaritan” reported that the vehicle was still running, but she could see no one inside. It wasn’t until each window had been peered into that they saw Robin laying unconscious, in the back of the vehicle.

Robin was rushed to the trauma unit at Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta. Her injuries were substantial. She had a severe concussion resulting from a skull fracture. There were broken bones in her neck and massive injuries to her spinal cord and the vertebrae in her back.

As friends and family were notified, those who knew the Payne family were concerned for her well being and wanted to help.

The calls went out and the prayers start coming in.

Fellow Georgia Bounty Runners began visiting her and trying to help the family. It quickly became apparent that this was going to be a long term commitment to help out.

The Georgia Bounty Runners 4WD Club set up accounts for donations and they came rolling in.

Various fund raising ideas were kicked around until Paul Fon stepped in and said “I will donate my Jeep CJ5.”

Discussions ensued about how to use Paul’s donation to maximum advantage for Robin.

Let me tell you a little about the Georgia Bounty Runners, better known as the GBR.

The Georgia Bounty Runners 4 Wheel Drive Club is a family oriented off road club. What we like best is driving our rigs on dirt, rock, sand, and mud. I came to the club 6 years ago and met some of the best people I know. We have around 50 families that regularly get together and enjoy each others company.

The make up of the members is very diverse. I am a business man. We have small business owners, Firemen, Policemen, Auto mechanics, Airline pilots, and Computer geeks. The common bond that brought us together was our sport, 4 wheeling. What keeps us together is the strong friendships we have forged and the camaraderie that makes this such a wonderful club to belong to.

Once you become a member of the GBR, you also become a member of the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association, and the United Four Wheel Drive Associations. All of the clubs throughout the region and country have common interests. The great thing about such a large and diverse group of people with a common goal is that they can come together when needed.

Now is the time to recognize a few special members of the Georgia Bounty Runners.

Paul Fon
We would not have been this successful with out the Jeep. Thank You for a great donation.

Kerry Vanderpool
The number one man, who spearheaded this project and kept it on track. He yelled and screamed. He jumped up and down. He beat us over the head with wrenches to get this Jeep Project finished. He does not even like Jeeps. He opened up his house and workshop to all who worked.

Ken Sutz
For working on the body, making sure the welds were straight and for also opening up his house and workshop.

Paul Beck
Paul opened his house to workers and got the engine rebuilt, clean and working smooth.

Clint Crites
Our Number one ticket seller needs to be recognized. He was also in charge of all the food for the event.

The Georgia Bounty Runners 4 Wheel Drive Club put in a lot of hard work.

18 work days
850 hours to work on the jeep
Uncountable Volunteer Time
$1100 in sweat equity and donations

Speaking of Donations, please visit these businesses that helped us out with parts for the Jeep.

Bridgestone www.bridgestone-usa.com/
Concord Body Shop Smyrna, GA
4 Wheel Drive Parts Center www.4wdpartscenter.com
4 Wheel Parts Wholesalers www.4wheelparts.com
4x4 Customs www.4x4customs.com
Grand Muffler Smyrna GA
Helping Hands Security www.helpinghandssecurity.com
Kennesaw Mountain Accessories www.kenmtn.com
Tellico 4x4.com www.tellico4x4.com
Tennessee Off Road www.tennesseeoffroad.com
Tower Automotive
Warhill Tire
Windrock Offroad www.windrockoffroad.com
x3reative www.x3creative.com

When the call for help went out, many other clubs stepped up to the plate.Remember what I mentioned earlier, that we are all part of an extended family?

The Carolina Trail Blazers donated money and then kept on sending cash.

Southern Jeeps stepped up to the plate as well. They worked diligently on getting the word out; pushing from their web site and getting people to buy tickets.

Lots of individuals gave as well. See www.paynejeep.com site for all the names. You know who you are.

The end result was a beautifully restored 1980 CJ5.

So now we had this wonderful jeep, and we wanted to raise money for a handicap accessible house for the Payne family.

Being a 4 wheel drive club we decided to put on a 4 wheel drive event.

The event was held on Saturday, November 1st at my family’s property in Jasper, Georgia. We had trail rides for everyone. For people who had been off roading for years and for those that had never been off road. Whether it was stock rigs or big modified trucks, we had them covered. This was not just a 4 wheel drive event as people’s neighbors, co-workers, family and friends came to support the Payne Family too. The GBR had the opportunity to introduce the sport to many new faces.

My most memorable moment was when I was asked to give Robin a ride on the trails in my Land Rover Defender. I felt very honored. She then said she wanted to ride the hard trails.

After the creek trails and a pretty view ride we call Wendy’s Mountain, I took her to Monkey Island and we slung mud and did doughnuts. She was smiling and happy. She said she missed it so much. Her doctors had said no trail riding for a year. We pushed it up 4 days.

When the members of Southern Jeeps arrived, we had a parade of Jeeps though the property. Robin led the parade.

Afterward, we just drove around the property visiting everyone. I felt honored to be with her.

We had 2 live bands that played. “The Antic” and “Drunken Sobriety”.

We also had trophies and awards to give out and here are the winners:

Lane Bailey wanted to put the RTI Ramp to a test with a new formula. One that tested Flex in a different way. 1st place went to Patrick Bennett. Worst Place, or “Stiff as a Board,” went to Nick Sutz.

The winner of the teeter-totter, with a time of 2 min and 5 sec, was Ralph Payne.

We also had a car show. We allowed any mode of transportation to enter and the goal was to raise money. We also decided that the judges would take bribes and all bribes would go to the Payne Fund.

The car show winners are:

The Lowest was Steve Marquardt
The Tallest was Kristy Wicklund
The Dirtiest was Joe Isuzu
The Cleanest was Mike Manning
The Most Unique was Justin “Jose B” Breedlove
The Best prepared was Jim Rodgers
The Most Bribe money was Patrick Wilson
And the Best of Show was the Payne Jeep it self.

I had a great time and I hope everyone else did. We raised a lot of money that will really help the Payne Family. As a matter of fact, collectively, we raised $44,500.

That evening we had the raffle. When we lifted Robin onto the stage in her wheel chair, the crowd all stood up and cheered. I got goose bumps and I could see Robin was over whelmed with love. When Robin spoke she had us in tears.

The three big prizes for the event were:
The Award Winning CJ5 donated by Paul Fon and restored by the GBR.
A Warn Winch donated by myself (the Ice Cream Man)
A set of Goodyear MTR Tires donated by John Strakous.

The winners were:

The Winner of the Payne Jeep

Janis Franklin, who gave it to her son David
Kennesaw

The Winner of the Warn 9000 Winch

Oscar Thomas
Blairsville

The Winner of the tires

Robbie Hendricks
Cartersville

This was a great event. We raised a lot of money for a good cause and had a lot of fun. A few went away with some great prizes, but I went away with the satisfaction that I helped a fellow 4 Wheeler when they needed us most.

Thanks to all who helped, donated, or attended.

Jay Bird
The Ice Cream Man
1997 Yellow Land Rover Defender 90