Young landscaper ’ s legacy lives on through scholarship fund By Kayla Zadel

“ Nathan bought me a SCAG mower for our 17th wedding anniversary , and when Jonathan turned 16 , he said , ‘ I want to do a side job ,’ and asked , ‘ Can I borrow your lawnmower ?’” reminisces Karen Holland , Jonathan ’ s mom .

That ’ s how Fat Boy Lawn Care was born – a landscaping company that Jonathan started on his own .

“ My husband works for Competition Trailers in Henderson , [ Texas ], and he goes to a lot of the drag race events in Dallas ,” explains Karen . “ We usually get tickets because he works with Billy and Steve Torrence . I usually go with him , but that year , I told him to take Jonathan , and I ’ ll stay home with Grayson , our youngest son , because he didn ’ t want to go .”

Nathan went on the first day to the races and met Randy Gloede , president and CEO of Metalcraft of Mayville , the parent company of SCAG ,

and Maria K . Oldenburg , VP of OEM Engineering , and started telling them about Jonathan and his love for the brand . He even explained that they went as far as to send them a graduation invitation because Jonathan ’ s senior photos were with the lawn mower .

Randy was impressed with Jonathan and his young entrepreneurial spirit but admitted that he didn ’ t get the graduation invitation . Maria asked Karen to send over any photos of Jonathan with the lawn mower , which also included a poster asking his girlfriend to homecoming which was , of course , with the cat ’ s eye gold machine .

The next day , when Jonathan accompanied his dad to the FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex , Randy gave him the experience of a lifetime .

“ I signed all the documents for him to go on the starting line , and then I had my husband record him telling him , ‘ Hey , you ’ re going to be on the starting line with the SCAG cars ,’ and he was so excited ,” says Karen .

That was two weeks before Jonathan tragically lost his life in a car accident with the neighbor ’ s daughter in Rusk County , Texas . Jonathan was only 18 years old .

“ He got to experience the race with SCAG , and Maria and Randy were so impressed with him ,” she continues . “ They introduced him to other people , and then they sent him a swag box that had a bunch of SCAG T-shirts and hats and all kinds of stuff in it . He got that on October 31st , and then he died on November 1st .”

Now , a scholarship is being set up in Jonathan ’ s name , and it ’ s already awarded three $ 1,000

scholarships to students during the Rusk County Youth Project Show .

As for Fat Boy Lawn Care , Jonathan ’ s cousin is carrying on the business , and his nephews have also volunteered to help . Ultimately , Jonathan ’ s plans were to leave Fat Boy Lawn Care to his younger brother , Grayson .

“ Jonathan chose the color bright orange because when he mowed , he knew that that would stick out and people wouldn ’ t hit him ,” explains Karen . “ He ran Fat Boy Lawn Care with my mower , and then he made enough money , and he bought another mower , and he made more money and asked me during his senior year to call him out of school to get a loan to buy another . He would only buy SCAG mowers . He had also just bought a dump trailer before he passed .”

Even though Jonathan ’ s passing has been difficult , his family is confident that his legacy will continue to resonate within the community .

“ We want people to remember Jonathan as a hard worker , doing things for others without being asked , and being a good person .”

For more information on the Fat Boy Foundation and to donate , visit Fat Boy Foundation Jonathan Holland on Venmo or email Amelia White at lbtwhite @ gmail . com . DI

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE HOLLAND FAMILY

48 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 188