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Lithia exec appears in People By GREG STILES Rich Summers admits he winced when hearing North Medford's final scores last football season. The Black Tornado's prolific scoring habits were costing his company $25 every time North Medford tumbled into the end zone. But it was for a cause in which the Lithia Toyota of Medford general manager believed - the athletic programs at North and South Medford high schools. Lithia donated a total of $1,650. "Both schools got into the playoffs and one actually got into the championship game," Summers said. "We had decided to donate so much for a touchdown. In hindsight, we're thrilled they scored that many points. But I didn't expect it to go the way it did. It was a pretty decent check for a little community program." Summers and the Lithia dealership have earned Toyota's President's Award - based on customer satisfaction and company performance - for six years and were rewarded by the automaker with a full-page ad about the Endzone Account in two editions of People Magazine. Summers posed with South Medford running back Rob Brown and North Medford lineman Dan Johnson at Spiegelberg Stadium in May during a photo shoot for the regional ad. The ad first appeared in the Willamette Valley editions of People Magazine on Aug. 6 and the rest of the state in Aug. 13. "It's quite amazing how many people read every page of People Magazine; I thought most people just flipped through the advertising pages," Summers said. "I was at the dentist's office (Thursday) and someone said 'I saw you in People Magazine.' " Toyota began running People Magazine ads, featuring its top dealerships, in 1987. This year, ads for 255 of Toyota's 1,700-plus dealers began appearing July 30 and will continue through the Sept. 17 issue. The Wallis Group of Tulsa, Okla., began production of the ads in March. The community involvement angle fit Summers well. He has been with Lithia for 15 years and is a 1981 Crater High graduate. "I'm a huge football fan and I like kids programs," said Summers, 38, a father of two. "I've been involved with Special Olympics and ski teams." With so many community involvement options, Summers said it isn't easy to choose. "We try to budget it so that we can do a lot of different things," Summers said. "There are so many good things that you hate to say 'no' to one and 'yes' to another." The Endzone Account was part of a sponsorship of high school athletic broadcasts by Table Rock Sports Productions. "He didn't anticipate North and South doing as well as they did and it got more expensive than he thought," chuckled Jeff Brown of Lithia's in-house advertising department, who kept tabs on weekly scoring. In the end, Summers got a lot of publicity mileage from the program and Toyota's advertisement in People. "Toyota's big into that kind of stuff," he said. "They sent a nice plaque with the front cover of the magazine and a copy of the article." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.