Quitman couple buys car for waitress in Branson

From left, Gary Tackett, Roxann Tackett, Cindi Grady and Tackett family friend Marco Sanchez stand in front of Grady’s new car, purchased by the Tacketts for the Branson, Mo., Cracker Barrel waitress.
From left, Gary Tackett, Roxann Tackett, Cindi Grady and Tackett family friend Marco Sanchez stand in front of Grady’s new car, purchased by the Tacketts for the Branson, Mo., Cracker Barrel waitress.

QUITMAN — Vacation is often a time to relax and not have to worry about anything, but many vacationers remain on alert for ways they can be a blessing to others. Sometimes that can mean giving a couple of dollars to someone in need. Sometimes it can mean providing a generous tip for a hardworking waitress. For one couple, taking several weeks of shopping for and purchasing a car was not too much trouble to be a blessing for someone they did not know.

Several months ago, Gary Tackett and his wife, Roxann, of Quitman were on one of their many trips to Branson, Missouri. Tackett said they have a couple of condos in the Branson area and travel there often. Cracker Barrel is one of their favorite stops, and they frequent the chain’s location in Branson.

“We were up there in late summer, and when you pull in, there’s a place for RV parking,” Tackett said. “We noticed this car in the RV parking. I told my wife that I thought someone just left this car. It looked pretty bad. I made a comment to my wife about why they wouldn’t haul it off, and then we went in.”

After those initial comments, the Tacketts did not think much of the car until they saw it on their next visit. Clearly, the blue Hyundai that looked like it was held together with straps, plastic wrap, tape and a prayer was not only being driven on a regular basis, but it belonged to someone inside.

“We talked to a hostess we had grown to know, and she said it belonged to a worker here,” Tackett said. “We were told she was one of their best workers. She works double shifts when she can. I turned to my wife and told her, ‘I think we need to buy this woman a car.’”

At this point, the Tacketts did not know Cindi Grady, the waitress who owned the car. She may have waited on them once or twice during their frequent visits to Branson, but they had not formed a relationship with her.

Still, this woman clearly needed a car. That’s when the Tacketts started a mission to find the perfect, dependable car for Grady. Their daughter helped them search Craigslist for affordable vehicles for sale. The Tacketts drove to Springfield, Missouri, to look at a car, then drove to Little Rock three or four times to see what they could find.

“It took a couple weeks to find the right car,” Tackett said.

Finally, after those weeks of searching, the Tacketts found a 2008 Ford Fusion at a car dealership in Little Rock. The car had been repossessed, and the salesman, after hearing the story, gave the Tacketts a good deal on the car.

Tackett said the car does not have a lot of bells and whistles, but it runs well, has heating and air, gets good gas mileage and looks good.

“I just wanted her to be proud of what she got,” he said.

On Black Friday, the Tacketts took the car to Branson. They talked with the manager at Cracker Barrel and coordinated a plan to give the car to Grady the next day.

Saturday morning, the Tacketts were seated in Grady’s section of the restaurant for breakfast.

“She’s a very good waitress,” Tackett said, confirming what he had already been told. “I was going to leave her the title on the table, but we didn’t want her to break down in front of everybody. … She’s thinking that it’s just another person and another day.”

After the Tacketts finished their meal, they left a good tip and went outside. At that point, Grady’s manager asked to talk to her. Grady was brought outside, thinking she was in trouble, and when she saw the Tacketts, she started to worry that she had done something wrong while waiting on them.

“She’s thinking, ‘I did something wrong,’” Tackett said. “I looked at her and said, ‘We’ve been watching you drive this car all summer.’ I led her over there, and she noticed the car and saw there was a red bow on it.”

There was a moment of shock while Grady processed what was happening; then Tackett handed her the keys, gave her a hug and asked if she wanted to sit in the driver’s seat.

“It’s beautiful,” Grady said as she got in the car.

After the presentation, Tackett said others started pitching in to make the car more of a blessing for Grady. When they went to have the insurance transferred, the fee was waived. After the inspection, a brake light was fixed for free. The important thing, Tackett said, is a hard-working woman now has a safe car to drive.

“We didn’t know her,” he said. “Didn’t even know if she would accept the car. A lot of bad things happen to good people. You can tell she’d had some hard times.”

Tackett said all of this just happened to come to fruition around Christmastime. He and his wife would have done it at any time of the year — and had been working on it for a while — but many people are in a giving mood this time of year, and he hopes others will be encouraged to be aware of the needs around them.

“We all live in the fast lane,” he said. “There are people all over who are hurting. We all just need to take the time. God’s been so good to us. He has blessed us, and we want to bless others. Even if all you do is meet someone on the street and say ‘merry Christmas,’ it can make them feel good.”

Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.

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