In the back room behind sliding doors at Reinholt's Town Square Furniture store, a blender sitting on top of a gray metal filing cabinet looks out of place.

But this blender has meaning to Keith Reinholt, and that's why he refuses to move it.

"I kept the blender there as a remembrance of Ben," he explains.

"Ben" was Ben Bibler. Bibler was 22; Reinholt is 39, although his boyish looks and perpetual smile would allow him to pass for 30. Bibler was single; Reinholt is married and has children. Reinholt taught Bibler in Sunday School at First Christian Church when he was a little boy.

None of this stood in the way of the close friendship they developed this year.

Bibler died Aug. 23, 1999, one day after he dove into 4 feet of water at Tippecanoe Lake in the early morning and broke his neck.

When Bibler died, Reinholt lost the person he lifted weights with at The Fitness Shop Gym six days a week at 5:30 in the morning; lost a co-worker, as Bibler began working at Reinholt's Furniture in January 1999; and lost the person he made protein shakes with by using the blender on top of the gray metal filing cabinet in the back room.

Bibler may have been gone, but Reinholt believed there was one more thing he could do for his friend.

Just a week before he died, Bibler completed a 12-week body-building program called the "Body For Life Challenge." A "before" photo shows a flabby Bibler. An "after" photo shows a chiseled Bibler. The 540,000 people who accepted this challenge in 1999 had to follow eating, exercise and weight-lifting guidelines for 12 weeks and turn in paperwork to qualify for one of 10 national awards.

Bibler's paperwork was not complete when he died. Bibler's parents, Bruce and Roberta, collected what he had finished and gave it to Reinholt. Reinholt wrapped up the paperwork. Then he and six others wrote to multimillionaire Bill Phillips, the founder of the contest, who, Reinholt says, is the "biggest name in body-building in the USA right now. Joe Weider is his rival." Pro athletes Karl Malone, Jose Canseco, Brady Anderson, Shannon Sharpe, Mike Alstott, Mike Piazza, Terrell Davis and actor Sylvester Stallone are a few of Phillips' clients.

Reinholt, who submitted the eulogy he gave at Bibler's funeral, asked Phillips that Bibler be considered for the "Most Inspirational Person" award, one of the 10 national awards.

At 5:30 p.m. Monday, two white limousines stop in front of Reinholt's Furniture. A tan man with short brown hair, blue eyes and a blue, black and white leather jacket that has the letters EAS on it climbs out. It is Phillips.

Phillips, founder of Muscle Media magazine, author of the New York Times non-fiction bestseller "Body For Life" and creator of EAS supplements, arrives in Warsaw to award Bibler's family, which includes brothers Brian and Brad, a $100,000 scholarship grant in Ben Bibler's name.

Announcement Stuns Family, Friends

For a second, Roberta Bibler is shocked. Then the shock dissipates and turns into tears of happiness.

"We had no idea whatsoever," she says. "I thought he was dropping by just to present a plaque. When Keith had talked with him before, he had said something about presenting the Fitness Club with a plaque in remembrance of Ben. That's what I thought this would be about."

The scholarship grant was much more than a plaque, surprising Reinholt.

"It was a longshot doing this," he says. "Thousands and thousands enter. I didn't know if we'd even hear from anybody.

"We wanted to do something for his family. I had no idea Bill Phillips was coming to Warsaw to present this scholarship grant."

Phillips, who stays at the furniture showroom for two hours, does not present the plaque until the end of his visit. For the first hour, he talks with family members, with Reinholt and with others who knew Bibler. During the second hour, he sits on a stool in the middle of the floor and asks questions about Bibler.

Roberta shows a family album to Phillips and laughs as she tells him about the time a little kid told Ben his arms were as big as tires. As she talks, husband Bruce sits alone a few couches away and weeps, wiping tears away. His son, Brad, joins him on the couch and puts his arm around him.

"That's the way it has always been," someone says softly. "She feels better talking about him, and he feels better being off by himself, just being quiet."

And Reinholt, a devout Christian, feels better by remembering Ben and helping his family.

"As hard as he worked, for us not to complete this would have been a tragedy," he says.

Bibler's "after" picture was taken Thursday, four days before he died.

Bibler means so much to Reinholt because he invested time in the 22-year-old. When he hired Bibler in January, he saw a 22-year-old who needed direction in his life. They held a common love in exercising and lifting weights. Reinholt went to work on strengthening that bond, introducing him to Phillips' training regimen.

"Ben was by no means perfect," he says. "None of us are."

David Rickel, a trainer at the Fitness Shop, saw changes in Bibler.

"Ben had been a party animal," he says. "You know, from dawn to dusk. That was why it was so strange to see him show up at 5:30 every morning for his workouts and talk about how he was watching what he was eating."

Bibler threw himself into the "Body For Life Challenge." By adhering to a strict diet, working out and listening to Reinholt, Bibler's life started turning around. Bibler, who lived with his parents in Warsaw, had enrolled at IPFW, 45 minutes away in Fort Wayne.

"He had no idea how he would get to college," Bruce says. "He knew he was registered and it was gonna work out. People like me worry about those small details."

His first day of his sophomore year would have been Tuesday, Aug. 24, the day after he died.

"He not only changed physically with bigger biceps, he changed as a person," Reinholt says. "The change we saw in him starting to take place was very positive.

"That's the sad part. We lost him before he could realize his full potential."

That Bibler touched lives became evident when the McHatton-Sadler Funeral Chapel told his family that was the most people they ever had attend a funeral.

"We still get letters," Bruce says. "They make you cry sometimes. I don't even know who all the people are."

Phillips, after seeing Bibler's before and after pictures and reading the letters on his behalf, was sold that Bibler was the "Most Inspirational" person in 1999.

"He had a beautiful smile," Phillips says. "I go a lot on smiles on the before and after pictures. A structured lifestyle of health and fitness was allowing him to experience a better life.

"It's about becoming strong and helping other people. The most important exercise someone can do is reach down and lift someone else up. If you do that, you're being an inspiration to others. Ben showed that no matter who you are, where you're from or what your circumstances are, you can turn it around. We rewarded this to whoever accepted the challenge and became an inspiration during the process."

Bibler's last day of work at Reinholt's Furniture was Friday, Aug. 20, 1999. A female Bibler had not seen in a couple of years happened to stop by at 5:30 in the afternoon. They chatted, and the girl told him, "Ben, I admit I tried to see it in high school. But now I see it. I am so glad you've decided to change yourself."

"I'll never forget that day," Reinholt says. "Every last one of us guys here got to spend some time with him. After he talked with the girl, I said, 'Ben, that's awesome. You can be such an encouragement to others.'"

The Biblers do not know for sure what they will do with the scholarship money.

"For me, I am excited that Ben's memory will go on and help young kids who will get out there like Ben did, work and set goals," Roberta says. "It's fabulous we can give other kids that opportunity.

"I think we will try to keep it in the area. It may even be toward the sports program at (Warsaw) since he was in swim."

Asked what he misses most about Ben, Reinholt says, "His smile." Seventeen years separated them, but Reinholt knows why they were placed together. "I've never been a person who believed in chance," he says. "I really felt God allowed me to spend time with Ben.

"You are thankful for every day you have. Every day I have, I want to live life to the fullest. When it happens to someone close to you, it opens your eyes."

As you leave Reinholt's Furniture, you can't miss the coatrack by the door. An orange Warsaw Tiger jacket with black sleeves hangs on a hook. The name Bibler is printed across the back. Two pictures of Bibler hang on the wall.

The blender in the back room is Reinholt's private tribute. This is his public tribute, out front for everyone to see. [[In-content Ad]]