The Magical Moment Continued: BHS Essay Contest Winners Received Their New Cars From Todd Ingersoll on July 13th

Report by Paula Antolini
July 16, 2017 2:04PM EDT

 

Photo: (Left to right) Runner-Up Nadya Redmond, Grand Prize Winner Christopher Joyce, Mr. Todd Ingersoll, owner of Ingersoll Auto of Danbury, and Runner-Up Sophie Morgan, on July 13, 2017, on the day they received their cars as a prize in the Ingersoll essay contest.  They about to cut the cakes specially made for them, with logos of schools they plan on attending.  Click on photo to view larger.

 

The Magical Moment Continued: BHS Essay Contest Winners Received Their New Cars From Todd Ingersoll on July 13th

They say rain is good luck at a wedding.  Well, for three Bethel High School (BHS) 2017 graduates, last Thursday’s rain brought more happiness as the winners arrived at Ingersoll Auto of Danbury with family members on July 13th, to do the final paperwork and receive the cars they won in an essay contest.  (It was also pouring-rain on the prize-awarding day, July 7th.)

As Bethel Advocate previously reported, the grand prize winner is Christopher Joyce, who won a new black 2017 Chevrolet Cruze Hatchback automobile.  Runners -Up Sophie Morton and Nadya Redmond each won a certified pre-owned Chevrolet Cruze cars, Morton’s in black and Redmond’s in light blue.

As the winners arrived at Ingersoll Auto, the saw that three cars were parked on an island in front, with three giant white bows on top, and the winner’s name on a card on the windshield.

Photo: All three cars ready and waiting for the winners to pick up from Ingersoll Auto of Danbury, on July 13, 2017.

 

Eventually the entire staff came outdoors, looking very much like a team in their medium blue matching shirts, and Ingersoll congratulated the winners about their new cars.  There is a special send-off cheer by the staff when delivering a car, and when Ingersoll gave them the count down, the staff recited a loud cheer in unison and raised their arm at the end in congratulations.

Custom-made cakes were inside the showroom on a table decorated with balloons, cakes waiting to be cut during the celebration that continued there. Each of the three cakes were decorated with the logo of each school the winners are planning on attending next.  Christopher Joyce will attend High Point University in North Carolina, Sophie Morton will attend Naugatuck Valley Community College and Nadya Redmond will attend Western Connecticut State University, both in Danbury, CT.

Winners then went onto offices with family to finish the final paperwork and after that it was all smiles.

Ingersoll’s Facebook post read, “Wishing these grads the best on their road to success!”

 

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THE BEGINNING / SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT

This entire event started in a surprise announcement on June 20, 2017, at the 2017 BHS graduation, when commencement speaker Todd Ingersoll made a surprise announcement about holding an essay contest and a prize of one car.  The essay was to be two pages, hand written front and back, explaining why the student was uniquely deserving of the gift of a new car.   He also announced three scholarship opportunities and grants to teachers.

After 60 essays were received and judged in the next ten days, he decided to give away three cars to deserving students, not just one car.

Todd Ingersoll, owner of Ingersoll Auto of Danbury, and his team, decided to surprise the three winners by driving the winning cars to the winners’ homes while the community and possible winners watched live on Facebook. Several “finalists” were called that morning telling them they could be the winner, and to be home.

 

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VIEWING THE CAR WINNERS ON FACEBOOK LIVE

Ingersoll first drove to various locations in Bethel, CT, with his team following in a procession, to surprise the winners of his essay contest with a presentation of cars, on July 7, 2017, between 12:30 p.m. and 1:00p.m.

All was captured on Facebook live as the suspense grew as to whom the winners were.  The only hints viewers had were to watch which neighborhoods in Bethel the Ingersoll car was traveling. Some winners actually viewed the car on Facebook pulling into their own driveway.

That day it was of course, pouring non-stop rain, which no one seemed to notice as the magical moments arrived to surprise the winners.

Todd Ingersoll created possibly the most exciting live event ever, in Bethel.  The age of the Internet!

 

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THE ESSAY CONTEST

Previously, students had ten days, from the June 20th Bethel High School graduation day to the June 30th deadline, to submit a four page essay to Ingersoll, about why they deserved to be the winner of a car.  June 7th was chosen as the day to reveal the winners because it was 17 days from graduation, reflecting the 2017 graduation year.  So this was the day to deliver the prizes, rain or shine! And it poured.

Todd Ingersoll believes in giving back to the community, as he stated in his 2017 commencement speech, and he clearly wants to pass this lesson on to students in Bethel.

And so, Ingersoll created the essay contest which ended up being a pretty amazing experience for him and his team that judged the essays.

Various winning essays discussed religion, faith, belief in God, being rich with love of family, overcoming tremendous obstacles, adoption, personal sacrifice, giving back to the community, loss of a Dad, volunteerism, NJROTC, and most of all, understanding the concept that the giving part is the best part.

One of the statements Ingersoll made to the Grand Prize Winner on the winning day was, “Define your own success and give back to a town that’s been good to all of us.”

 

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VIEW MORE PHOTOS BELOW:

 

Photo: (Left to right) Runner-Up Nadya Redmond, Grand Prize Winner Christopher Joyce, Mr. Todd Ingersoll, owner of Ingersoll Auto of Danbury, and Runner-Up Sophie Morgan, on July 13, 2017, on the day they received their cars as a prize in the Ingersoll essay contest.  They about to cut the cakes specially made for them, with logos of schools they plan on attending.  Click on photo to view larger.

 

Photo: Ingersoll’s Dave Bruckenthal (left) hands the keys to a new car to Grand Prize Winner Christopher Joyce, who was the top winner in an essay contest from Ingersoll Auto business owner Todd Ingersoll. 

 

 

Photo:  The Redmond family signs papers to finalize the ownership of the car prize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo:  The Joyce family signs papers to finalize the ownership of the car prize.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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