Tom Luciano & DJ Harrington
Everyone knows Tom Luciano, the training specialist from Miller Industries and DJ Harrington, better known as the “Tow Doctor” in the towing industry. When I am the Tow Doctor, I wear a doctor’s coat with EMS inscribed on it. EMS stands for EDUCATE, MOTIVATE, and HAVE A SOLUTION.
Over 10 years ago, Tom Luciano shared with me what he and his friends do for young boys and girls who have no dad so they can still go fishing. When I heard about his passion for giving boys and girls a day of fishing, I just had to write about it. The article was published in the Power Source magazine, a trade publication for the auto recycling industry.
This article explained about Luciano’s desire to help young kids and what a great guy he was that he took in fishing equipment of all kinds. Here’s how Luciano gets that fishing equipment. I mentioned everyone should be checking the back of trucks and trunk of cars for any used fishing equipment. Furthermore, I asked if any was found that it be saved and shipped to my Georgia home. The week after the article ran, I received tackle boxes and assorted floaters. Tom and his friends went to work restoring the equipment. They take kids on the water to fish….sometimes it’s for the very first time.
The child has lots of fun, casting and reeling in fish. At the end of the day, the child thinks they have just borrowed someone’s fishing pole and tackle box for the day. Surprise, surprise, before they leave, Luciano will explain, “Oh! By the way, this rod and stuff - it’s yours to keep!” The young person’s eyes will light up. The experience for each of them doesn’t get away because the equipment goes home with them.
As time passed, here’s what I received at my home. I received tackle boxes of all kinds - even a Spiderman tackle box with a Barbie tray. I was clueless that Spiderman could fish at all. I thought Spiderman casted a web instead of a fishing pole or a net!! Boxes kept arriving with pieces of fishing rods, reels and other gear. One guy sent me ice fishing gear that he had found in a trunk of a car that he was taking to Co-Part. One box of stuff had fishing glasses, a great deal of fishing line with enormous amount of bits and pieces of fly fishing paraphernalia. A company from Iowa sent over 15 fishing poles and reels, a full box of knives and assorted tools with a note that read, “Here Doc, I knew one day I would find someone who would want this stuff. (He used another word though which I can’t mention here). Let your friend, Luciano help these kids!”
The story isn’t over yet….it gets better! My wife wanted to kill me because the generosity of people was huge. I have two car garages on the left side of the house and again on the right side of the house. We received so much of the fishing gear that we had to park several cars in the driveway before renting a U-Haul to transport all the equipment to Baltimore where Tommy Luciano met me at the Tow Show in Baltimore. He took over the load from there.
I saw Tommy at the Las Vegas show recently. He still needs fishing equipment badly. So, I want to ask all of you reading this article right now to go through your cars and trucks to see what you can find. Take a look in the back of those trucks and trunks of cars before taking them to 1AA, Co-Part, to Tow Lot.com to auction, or to your local crusher. See what fishing equipment you can uncover. Please ship me any pieces you find, even if you feel it might be broken, assorted fishing gear, or tackle boxes that may need some tender, “lovin” care. Tom and I want to thank you in advance for what you are about to send. Let’s pay our success forward by helping others. We need your help with this project. Tom thanks you, and I certainly thank you.
If you have any doubts of what you should or should not send, please call me at 770-301-4122 and ask. Yes, I want you to open your hand in a tight-fisted world. God Bless You.
See you at the next show.