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Holding her right hand up is $10,000 winner, Melissa Wells. The winning number was 134. She is pictured her with Office Manager, Terry Edney and seated, C. C. Appling, now the giver as well as receiver.
Appling Boring in Forest City was founded in 1984 and has 20 to 50 employees. It is in the water, sewer, pipeline and communications and power line construction industry. Founder Cary Appling has now turned over the business, on a day to day basis, to his son Kenneth. However, C. C. as he is affectionally referred to, still shows up every day at 5:30 a.m. and locks the doors at 6 p.m. in the evening. While he is in the office, Kenneth is out in the field. C.C. also cooks breakfast every morning for the staff. He is very laid back and “is a wonderful person to work for.” That comment, sums up the feeling the staff has for him. He is truly, “one of a kind”. One of the office ladies, Melissa Wells, has worked for him for 10 years and the Office Manager, Terry Edney, has been there for 26 years.
This year, as usual, Cary Appling bought six tickets. One each for his son and two daughters as well as himself and two more - one for Melissa Wells and one for Office Manager, Terry Edney. It was their annual Christmas gift from C. C. They have always agreed that if any of the three in the office won, they would split it three ways. They had won prizes before, but never the top prize.
After all these years supporting the Rutherford Chamber of Commerce, at exactly 11:03 p.m. on this past Friday, December 9th, ticket number 134 was the last number standing. The holder was Melissa Wells of Appling Boring. For the first time in years, she was unable to attend the gala event. When she got the phone call after 11 p.m., she said she “was shocked!” Those sentiments were also echoed by Terry Edney whom Melissa got out of bed to share the good news.
As a result, Melissa, true to the agreed arrangement, will share the $10,000 with both Cary and Terry. When I asked who would get the extra dollar due to the fact that the three way split nets, $3,333 to each winner which totals $9,999, the answer was simple. The giver of the tickets, C.C. Appling would claim the extra dollar!
Their Christmas gift grew by $3,233 this year. One might proclaim, ...”yes, Melissa, there is a Santa Claus!”
