What’s Happening on Page 18!
VOL 22 ISSUE 9
September 2015
ROGERS COUNTY NE Oklahoma’s Leading Consumer Newspaper
Treating Customers Like Family The service team at Jack Kissee Ford wants to demonstrate their commitment to you.
Rolling Thunder Dragster Available to Local Charities The MaeHem Racing Team is proud to present its super-charged Chevy for charities including Folds of Honor, Hydrants of Hope, and Tulsa Youth Services. By Jim Butcher
Service Advisor Jason Hodges, Service Manager Gary Wise, Cashier Sharon Forrest and Service Advisor Toby Osborne make up the front line service team at Jack Kissee Ford in Claremore. By Duane Blankenship Steve Kissee, owner of Jack Kissee Ford in Claremore, is the son of the late founder, Jack Kissee. The company has been family owned since 1958, and Steve has been at the helm since 1980. Mr. Kissee says he, the
family and every employee are relentlessly focused on treating every customer like family. “Whether you live in Claremore, Owasso or anywhere in the greater Tulsa area,” said Mr. Kissee, “we want the opportunity to demonstrate our commitment
to you.” Service Manager Gary Wise has been at Jack Kissee Ford since 2001. Gary grew up in Tulsa and has had a love of automobiles since he can remember. “The environments in which (continued on page 28)
Road Ahead Guide RCI Insurance Group offers a free insurance review and packet containing a ParentTeen Contract and other helpful information for parents and their new teen drivers.
When someone says, “funny cars,” do you think of your neighbor’s car? How about your son’s jalopy always needing gas? Wikipedia describes funny cars as “a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance similar to manufacturers’ showroom models. They have forward-mounted engines, placed in front of the driver, as opposed to dragsters, which place the engine behind the driver.” Rolling Thunder is a funny car based out of Sapulpa with an 18-gallon tank holding an exotic mixture of alcohol, but is truly powered by love. It can hit 100 miles an hour in 60 feet with 16inch wheels screaming down the quarter-mile drag strip. The super-charged, highly modified Chevy engine produces 2,500 horse power. Let’s go back to the four-letter word that motivates the MaeHem Racing Team. L-O-V-E not only powers the car, but is the strong bond that holds the Owasso family and friends together. Mark DeMaro is the
heart and soul behind the three and half-year project that designed and created Rolling Thunder. The team name, MaeHem, is named in honor of his late mother, Mae. The primary purpose of the car is to “(1) keep the family together while (2) serving the Lord and (3) giving back to the community and helping kids,” says DeMaro. “My mother was our biggest fan.” Mark’s life has been entwined in the automotive field since 1973, when he began drag racing. His first car was a modified ’65 Plymouth Valiant with a Barracuda front end. Car owners and team founders are Scott and Kris Demauro and Mark DeMaro, along with their wives. Scott DeMauro, Mark’s nephew, and the entire crew of Rolling Thunder can’t say enough about the support they and the funny car project receive from their wives. Scott, one of two drivers, admitted the project requires him to spend a lot of time away from home and family. “But this is very good work we do here and we couldn’t do it without approval from our wonderful wives.” Conception through design (continued on page 28)
By Carol Beck-Round
Preferred Customer Requested Delivery September 5, 2015 Dated Material
PRSRT-STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 1000 TULSA, OK
A major milestone in the life of a family is when their teen becomes eligible to get his or her driver’s license. While teenagers are excited about the prospect, parents are concerned about their safety, and rightly so. According to DMV statistics, the traffic accident rates for 16- to 19-year old drivers are higher than those for any other age group. The risk increases when a teen driver transports passengers – the fatality risk of drivers aged RCI Insurance Group Personal Lines Manager Amber Helmuth wants to assist parents and teens with a free insurance review and a free 16 to 17 years is 3.6 times higher when they are driv- “Road Ahead Guide” packet containing a Parent-Teen Contract, along with other informative articles, to help parents prepare their teen (continued on page 28) before he or she gets behind the wheel of a vehicle.
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The MaeHem Racing Team poses with Rolling Thunder, a funny car dragster designed and hand-built over three and half years. The team consists of Paul Bridgewater, Michael Newman and family members, Mark DeMaro and his two nephews, Kris and Scott DeMauro. (Not pictured are driver David Summerton and crew members George Stabler, Will Summerton, and Scott DeMaro.)
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