July 20, 2005
Adapting to the environment
58 attend Northern Michigan Adaptive Sports recreational outing
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Beaming a smile as wide as the lake, Ruth Robb hurtled around Boardman Lake Saturday afternoon.
Normally in a wheelchair full time, Robb was able to water ski thanks to adaptive equipment and some 30 volunteers who made the Recreation Summer Sports Day a reality. Sponsored by Northern Michigan Adaptive Sports, the event drew 58 people with disabilities from around the region and state for a day of water skiing, tubing, canoeing, kayaking, cycling, swimming and sailing.
As for Robb, attending her first sports day ever, the exhilaration was liberating.
"It was cool, especially when I wiped out," said the Bellaire resident. "I went canoeing - and swimming for the first time in four years."
Northern Michigan Adaptive Sports hosts 21 activities a year, said Sue Gotts a recreational therapist at Munson Medical Center who facilitates the program. All their events during the year - which include horseback riding, bowling, skiing and snow boarding - welcome and include as many family members as possible.
"We strongly recommend that family members and friends come along because recreation is all about family," she said.
Nicole Gilbert - or "Hollywood Nicole" as Kevin Mitchell, president of Michigan Adaptive Sports teased her - packed hours of action into her day. In the morning, she water skied and kayaked and in the afternoon she sailed.
"I've done horseback riding before and I did a little bit of golfing at Camp Dearborn," said the Ida resident. "I've done tree climbing up here and I was up there a long time."
Shining faces like Robb's and Gilbert's keep the volunteers coming back to help out year after year. Mike Helke, manager of Action Water Sports in Traverse City, spent most of the day driving the boat that pulled the skiers.
A chase boat followed closely behind the water skiers, carrying a swimmer who jumped in the water to help any skier who spilled. Both boats also carried passengers - some family members of skiers, others people with disabilities who did not ski - who reveled in the high-speed ride.
"Just the look on their face and the fun that they have, that worth it all," said Helke, who also helped with last summer's event. "It gives them a chance to do what they normally wouldn't do."
Parents of younger children who participated in the activities were extremely grateful to Northern Michigan Adaptive Sports and the volunteers who made the day possible.
"Until you have somebody with special needs, you don't even realize and then it's a whole new thing to find out these people can do all these things with a few renovations," said Amy Beagle, who brought her daughter, Dakota Atkinson, 6, to her first adaptive sports event. "It's amazing that they have all this stuff here for people."
A summer visitor, Linda Morovitz staying with her parents at their cottage in Traverse City, she was thrilled to find that the annual Sports Day coincided with her visit.
"I called the local CIL [Center for Independent Living] to find out what kind of things were happening here for people with disabilities," she noted.
In addition to sports, socializing was the order of the day for Adam Moritz of Traverse City, a regular attendee at most Northern Michigan Adaptive Sports activities.
"I come just to enjoy the people, I'm a people person," said Moritz, who sailed, water skied and rowed an adaptive paddle boat Saturday, in addition to visiting with old and new friends. "It's a really good organization and I really appreciated all the people who put it together."