There are heroes among us, working every day to make our communities great. Froggy98 and Hometown Hero Appliance Repair want to recognize these deserving heroes and share their stories!
This month we are honored to recognize JASON MAYER.
Jason was nominated by Jairah:
“I was homeless and living out of my car last year. The first week I was in my hometown there was a band playing for Ribfest. I was standing in the middle of the street staring at the stage when a guy came up to me and says “You look like you listen to music-how do we sound?” That’s how I met Dakota, drummer for Jason Mayer Band.
They played one of their original songs, a song Jason wrote after his dad passed away. It was like he took the words right out of my brain.
The next time I saw the band, I went up to Jason. I said “I have your name tattooed on my leg!” He replied “I hope that washes off.” I told him that people say you aren’t famous until someone has their name tattooed on you, so now he’s famous.
Their music found me at a time when I didn’t have anything. Jason plays a lot of acoustic shows as well so throughout the year it gave me a safe place to exist. He and his band always make me feel like I belong. They never questioned why this girl has been to over 20 shows this year. They smile or nod when they see me walk in. They always thank me for coming out and bringing new people. Every single one of them is just a person trying their best but with the nothing they had, they were still able to save the life of a girl from back home.
When I think about Nebraska and what makes it a good place to call home, it’s the people like Jason who made a tiny dream of selling merch come true for me. He didn’t do anything extraordinary. He didn’t stop a moving bus but he believed in me when not a whole lot of other people did.
I was struggling with thoughts of suicide last year and he knew that. The first 100 times I asked him to play Luke Bryan he said no. But after I reached out to him, I showed up and he played All My Friends Say.
I wanted one of his hats for the longest time. He said he’d give me a shirt but I had to pay for a hat. I kept bugging him about it and eventually he offered to let me sell his merch to “pay off the hat” (I think he just wanted me to have a reason to keep going to his shows) but when they day came I was feeling unconfident and like I didn’t deserve to. He could tell I wasn’t ready and just gave me a nod. A little bit later his wife came up and tapped me on the shoulder. She had a man next to her and said “he wants to buy a hat” so I sold a hat.”
Watch us announce Jason as this month’s Hometown Hero and hear his side of the story by watching the video below.
Jairah also shared pictures of her tattoos with us!
