Upfront: Mower manufacturers aid wounded warriors

By Steve Noe

As always, I’m pleased to bring you two uplifting and patriotic stories about our great industry. In separate acts of kindness, Country Clipper and The Grasshopper Company recently donated commercial zero-turn riding mowers to wounded warriors Jordan Brown and Tom Trotter, respectively.

 Jordan Brown

 Tom TrotterBrown, who faithfully served our country for seven years, normally handled mowing responsibilities when he was home with his wife Monica and their two children on their small farm in southern Iowa. During his second tour in Iraq, however, Brown broke his left arm. He eventually lost the arm to cancer, which was the underlying cause of the break. Fortunately for Brown, the cancer is now gone. Unfortunately, he lost his ability to mow their two-acre lawn with his 18-inch push mower, so that responsibility fell on Monica last year.

Thanks to Country Clipper of Corydon, Iowa, the Brown family’s fortunes recently improved. After Brown was interviewed at Des Moines radio station KGGO about his work helping other wounded warriors through Operation First Response, Inc. (www.operationfirstresponse.org), Country Clipper surprised Brown by presenting him with a joystick-controlled zero-turn mower. As Brown quickly demonstrated, he was able to zip around on the mower in KGGO’s parking lot, thanks to the joystick steering, which is designed for easy one-hand zero-turning control. “We knew this would work so well for him,” said Country Clipper President Carl Shivvers.

Trotter, a 28-year-old retired Marine from West Melbourne, Fla., always dreamed of owning and operating a professional lawn care business. In 2011, that dream was derailed when Trotter was wounded in combat while on patrol in Afghanistan, which left him paralyzed in his left arm for eight months and eventually resulted in his medical retirement from the Marine Corps in 2012.

However, Grasshopper recently revived Trotter’s dream by donating a commercial zero-turn mower to him in partnership with comedian Jeff Foxworthy and San Antonio-based Military Warriors Support Foundation (MWSF) (www.militarywarriors.org).

Grasshopper and MWSF representatives presented Trotter with his new Grasshopper mower during a turkey hunt at Foxworthy’s Georgia farm in early April. The hunt and presentation highlighted the April 29 episode of Jeff Foxworthy “Inside & Out,” an online series sponsored in part by Grasshopper.

“We are extremely pleased to partner with Military Warriors Support Foundation to donate this mower to Tom,” said Ruthanne Stucky, executive vice president at Grasshopper. “Grasshopper recognizes the sacrifice made by those who serve in our armed forces, and this is our way of showing appreciation and gratitude to our nation’s veterans.”

Grasshopper selected Trotter from a pool of candidates provided by MWSF — veterans who had previously been selected for 100-percent mortgage-free homes through its Homes4WoundedHeroes program.

Trotter said that receiving the new mower is one of the highlights of his life, and it will help jumpstart his professional lawn care business.

“This new mower is definitely going to help me get my business going in the right direction and put me in a position to provide for my family for years to come,” said Trotter. “I cannot say ‘thank you’ enough to Grasshopper and Military Warriors for their support and what this means to me and my family.”

Trotter was scheduled to move into his new home on May 6, with his girlfriend, Rachel, and his two daughters. He is currently working on a business plan for his lawn care company, which will serve the Brevard County area in central Florida.

Grasshopper plans to continue its partnership with MWSF and donate a mower to a combat-wounded veteran on an annual basis.

Hopefully, others in the outdoor power equipment industry will be inspired by the generosity of Grasshopper and Country Clipper, and help those in need.

OPE Editor Steve Noe
snoe@specialtyim.com