Dayton Senior Plans To Roll In Style

DAYTON - Dayton High School senior Nathan Roughton has his eyes on the prize -- a 1987 Jeep Comanche prize that is.

While many of his class- mates are enjoying the summer sun during the months before senior year, Roughton has put everything on hold to work on Mike Talbott's farm during harvest season.

Roughton said he already has a budget planned out and if he can make financially savvy decisions, he hopes to be able to afford the vehicle before he starts school in the fall.

"If I budget myself right and I sell the vehicle I have now, I should be able to afford my Jeep and afford the gas all through the school year," Roughton said.

As for the insurance, Roughton said his parents were willing to help him for now, but he knows he'll have to take over once he moves out of their house.

His ambition to purchase the Jeep was the driving force behind Roughton's decision to apply for a harvest job.

He said he has never worked harvest before and knows the hours are long, but he believes it's the most efficient way for him to earn money for his jeep.

That determination was what got him hired by Talbott.

"He seemed like a very am- bitious kid," Talbott said. "He had a plan for what he wanted to do for the money and he is eager to learn."

Talbott also said he felt like Roughton has a good attitude and his long-term budget was impressive.

Roughton will be helping service equipment in the morn- ing and driving trucks during the rest of the day, Talbott said.

It won't be Roughton's first time driving big trucks, though, which helps him feel more at ease going into an unfamiliar job.

"I used to haul hay," Rough- ton said. "So I know how to drive the trucks hellip; those were about 10-hour days."

Roughton said he heard Talbott was a good guy to work for, and after meeting him, he felt like he had made the right decision.

"I'm looking forward to be- ing there," Roughton said. "I'm just pretty excited to work har- vest, so we'll see how it goes."

Roughton's drive to afford that new vehicle makes the long hours, summer heat and unfa- miliar territory worth it.

"You may work a few more hours than what you would doing something else, but you make more money overall," Roughton said.

And that money will be- come important if he wants to find exactly the right vehicle, especially because his dream car is so specific.

Roughton said he knows he might have to drive as far as Portland, Ore., to get just the right vehicle.

"I've been looking around on Craigslist and maybe I can find somebody local," Rough- ton said. "I'd like it to be a four-wheel drive with a 4-liter engine and five speeds, prefer- ably in white."

Roughton said he has always liked jeeps and most im- portantly, he wanted to have a cool rig for his senior year.