Fort Mill Ford

Super Duty Webisodes
The 2011 Super Duty area of our Ford Vehicles website features several "webisodes". These short videos contain demos and stories by some of our toughest fleet customers. They show first-hand how much this truck is capable of and delivers the message that the 2011 Super Duty is BUILT TO LAST!

The following videos are now available for viewing by visiting the following link and clicking "Field Work":

http://www.fordvehicles.com/2011Superduty/?p=fieldwork

• Trailer Sway Control
• Hill Assist/Hill Descent
• 6.7L Diesel Engine
• 6.2L V8 Gas Engine
• Six-Speed Transmission
• Center-Mounted Turbo Charger
• Power Takeoff
• Field Work Study
• Towing and Hauling
• Off Road
  

The letter was written in the script of an old woman. Sweeping curves, perfect penmanship, by hand in ink on yellow lined paper. No computers for this woman. She had read in The Herald about soldiers who needed money to get home for Christmas.

"I'm 82 years old, and I know what it is like not to get someone home for Christmas," the note said. Inside the envelope was $50 - a pair of $20 bills and a $10.

Fifty bucks from an 82-year-old woman to help get 200 National Guard soldiers, 105 of them based in Fort Mill, home from training in Wisconsin before they head to Afghanistan to fight in a war.

The federal government can't, under military guidelines, pay for travel home before the soldiers are deployed overseas. Once gone to Afghanistan, it can foot the bill, but not before.

Since The Herald reported the story, and then other media reported it, donations poured in. The unit's Family Readiness Group in the last week received more than a hundred cards and letters and notes. Late last week, Lowe's Home Improvement heard from its Fort Mill store employees about the crisis and promptly paid $25,000. Coupled with the money already collected, the $35,000 needed for buses was paid for.

From as close as Rock Hill and Fort Mill, and as far away as California and Florida, came cards and letters. In each, money. As little as $10. One check for $20 from a woman who remembered being broke in Panama in 1970 when she couldn't get home for Christmas with her soldier husband. And $30 from a woman who wrote, "I don't have much, but I would like to help."

Some contributed as much as $1,000. A grand from a business, and a grand from a family in New Jersey who had a relative in the unit. The man died last year after he got home from deployments to Iraq in 2003 and Afghanistan in 2007. The Fort Mill unit was deployed twice before this time, just in the past six years.

Another $1,000 check came from a man in Charlotte, who had been willed a bunch of money by a World War II veteran. He gave the money in the veteran's name.

"I pray that this money will help get these soldiers home," the man wrote.

From Fort Mill, a man named Bill Muetze came to the armory. A Vietnam War veteran who served three tours. He carried with him $825 he raised from neighbors and at the Compact Power Equipment plant where he works in Fort Mill by passing the hat. Literally.

"I took the hat off my head, put in the $200 I had saved for Christmas and asked around," Muetze said. "Some gave change, some gave dollars. The company gave $500."

Muetze raised that money for all soldiers, but he has his reasons to pass the hat. Will Muetze, 21, and Travis Muetze, 20, are both in the unit. Both are private first class. Both joined knowing they would be deployed. Both joined knowing what their father told them about wars and people dying.

Still, they joined. And now they can get home to see their family before Afghanistan.

"My sons," Bill Muetze said. "Both of them are being deployed. I want them home, but I want everybody's son home, too. The fact that so many people gave is just beautiful."

A woman known to the soldiers who work at the Rock Hill armory - the headquarters for area armories including Fort Mill and where the mail comes for the Family Readiness Group - stormed into the Rock Hill armory Friday afternoon. She had tears in her eyes. She stormed in as fast as lady who is at least 90 years old can storm.

She said she had brothers, children and grandchildren in every war since World War II, and she was not going to stand by idly while politicians can come home for Christmas and soldiers cannot. From the tiniest of pocketbooks that are the M-16 rifles of little old ladies, she took out $10. She turned on her heels and left.

Nobody knows her name.

And yet, the money still comes. Monday in the darkness of evening, Family Readiness Group (FRG) President Wanda Bennett opened still more letters and cards filled with cash and checks. Her son, Alan, is in the unit.

Anne Cash of the ladies auxiliary of the Fort Mill Veterans of Foreign Wars opened up more letters to gasps and the sight of money. Cash, who has helped the group for years, was asked one time by a dummy - me - how many soldiers she had in this unit. She replied swiftly, "All of them."

Rose Lemmons-Berry who works for the statewide FRG was there, talking about all the calls she got offering support. Her husband, who is in the Rock Hill unit, just got back from Afghanistan last year.

"Every call has been someone wanting to help," she said.

Money came in even after the goal was reached. "I had a bunch of people tell me, everyone who has called since we found out we had all the money, to keep it and do something to help the soldiers with it," Bennett said.

When the money is all added up, anything left over from the cost of the buses will be used to provide emergency transportation for any men in the unit or in a crisis for families of men in the unit, Bennett said.

Some of the soldiers have told their wives and parents that they are "shocked" and "stunned" that people would give so generously. Lemmons-Berry said she is neither shocked nor stunned.

"This is a great place filled with great people who love their soldiers, and we just want to thank everyone who gave whatever they could afford," she said.

Consider them thanked, Rose.

Want to help?

To donate to the Fort Mill guardsmen, contact:

Wanda Bennett with the Family Readiness Group at 803-519-6292 or rhfrg@truvista.net;

The Rock Hill National Guard Armory, Family Readiness Group, 126 Airport Road, Rock Hill, S.C., 29730; or

The National Guard Association of South Carolina, 132 Pickens St., Columbia, S.C. 29205; 803-254-8456; or ngasc.org.

For the first time ever, Motor Trend announced the winner of its annual Car of the Year award this afternoon live via webcast. Though the field of 23 contenders was highly competitive this year (follow the jump for a complete list), we guessed immediately that the winner was a Ford as soon as the webcast came online. How'd we know? The fact they were broadcasting the announcement from Ford World Headquarters in Detroit was a not-so-subtle clue. The Fusion, Taurus and Mustang were all in the running, but it was Ford's redesigned mid-size sedan, the Fusion, that took home the coveted Golden Calipers.

In retrospect, the choice is a solid one and not all that surprising. The Fusion was extensively reworked for the 2010 model year and features a new exterior design, new models and new powertrains. Ford offers a four-cylinder model, two strong V6 options and a full-on parallel hybrid variant, which means buyers should have no trouble finding a Fusion that fits their needs. And indeed they have, as the Fusion has already broken its own yearly sales record - with two months left to go.

Like MT, we're big fans of the Fusion here at Autoblog, and even have high hopes that one day it could be the domestic car that knocks the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord from atop their perches as the best selling cars in the States. That said, this Ford still has a long way to go. Toyota has sold nearly twice as many Camry models as the Fusion so far this year, and the Accord and Nissan Altima are still flashing their taillights at Ford's CoTY winner. It's not just demand, as Ford doesn't even have the production capacity at the moment to match Camry sales, and it doesn't help that the Mercury Milan siphons off a few potential Fusion customers, as well.

Nevertheless, this is less about what the Fusion could be in the future than what it is today: the 2010 Motor Trend Car of the Year. Congrats to Ford and the Fusion team.

Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/17/ford-fusion-car-of-the-year-motor-trend/

Multipurpose Education Facilities Part of New Museum and Visitor Center

DEARBORN, Mich., Sept.26, 2008 – The Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center at Gettysburg was officially opened today as part of the grand opening of the new Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park.  The Education Center was made possible by a $3 million grant from Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company.

Marty Mulloy, vice president Labor Affairs, Ford Motor Company, joined Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Governor Ed Rendell, actor Stephen Lang, National Park Service officials, Gettysburg Foundation supporters, and other corporate sponsors for the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park.

"At Ford, we understand the value of preserving our American heritage, and we believe it is vitally important to share the historical impact of Gettysburg with generations to come," said Mulloy.  

Close to two million people visit Gettysburg National Military Park each year and an additional 12 million students have logged on for a virtual visit to Gettysburg through its distance–learning programs.  The new Education Center includes indoor and outdoor educational program spaces and complements the Park's education programs.

"The Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center will be at the heart of the new Gettysburg museum and visitor center's education programs, providing a dedicated space for teacher workshops, classroom use and distance learning programs," said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. "Ultimately it will serve as a gateway to the Gettysburg experience."

Gettysburg provides hands–on resources for teachers to bring the battlefields of Gettysburg to life both while visiting the park in Pennsylvania or studying the Civil War in their classrooms and helping students understand the realities of the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg is viewed as the watershed for the Civil War and the battlefield is where Abraham Lincoln made his famous Gettysburg Address in recognition of the impact of the Civil War on the direction of the United States.

"The Gettysburg Foundation is enormously grateful for this gift, which will help ensure that the lessons Gettysburg teaches reach the widest possible audience," Foundation President Robert C. Wilburn said.  "The Gettysburg battlefield is one of the greatest classrooms in the nation. The lessons of Gettysburg – of sacrifice, visionary leadership and reconciliation – have educational value that resonates around the world. Through the generosity of Ford Motor Company Fund, we have the opportunity to make Gettysburg a classroom of democracy."

The Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park preserves and presents the story of the Battle of Gettysburg in the larger context of causes and consequences of the American Civil War. The new Gettysburg experience inspires visitors to learn more about the battle's significance in American history, and to draw connections between the events that occurred there and what is happening in their lives today. It is a joint project between the National Park Service and the Gettysburg Foundation.

Ford Motor Company Fund has a history of supporting education programs and projects that keep American heritage alive, such as the Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center in Gettysburg. Additionally, the Ford Orientation Center at the historic Mount Vernon Estate of George Washington recognizes his role in the Revolutionary War and the founding of this country.