By Martha Jacob –
Ripley resident Lori A. Blackburn proudly kicked off a new business in Ripley called The Village Ride, LLC which offers affordable transportation service (taxi) to the community.
Blackburn attended the June 28 Ripley Village Council meeting and updated it on her progress and getting the new business off the ground.
“I have been a resident of Brown County for about 10 years,” Blackburn said, “I have been a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society for Ripley and a number of other community organizations doing the food pantry and the soup dinner we offer every Thursday. Through these years I have witnessed a real need for transportation services, a taxi service, for Ripley.”
Blackburn went on to say that on July 1 her new taxi service, called The Village Ride will begin doing business. She passed out flyers to council members and everyone who was in attendance of the meeting.
“I will be doing things like taking people to doctor’s appointment, grocery shopping, rehabilitation appointments, veteran appointments, prescription pick-ups and other errands,” Blackburn explained.
“We will also be offering Friday and Saturday nights taxi service from 5 p.m. until 2 a.m.”
Blackburn said she will be offering clean, dependable and affordable transportation.
She said she has hopes to find a wheelchair accessible van and by October her plan is to add another taxi and another driver.
“I hope people will use my service to get out and have some fun and do some things they might not be able to do otherwise,” she said. “Not everyone has a car, but everyone needs groceries now and again. I plan on offering special deals like ‘Super Saver Wednesdays’, where I will take a load of people to Kroger, or maybe to Walmart where they’ll have an hour to shop before I pick them back up.”
Blackburn said that she will also be covering Georgetown, Aberdeen, Higginsport, once the word gets out.”
The Village Ride is fully licensed and insured and can be reached by calling (937) 392-3160 or (937) 515-4160.