Access to the Garden!

If you are inspired by spring and like to garden, or just think you might like to garden, you'll want to check out Access to the Garden, the blog and facebook page of Brenda Brown Parent, who shares her gardening passion as woman with incomplete quadriplegia. Access to the Garden is full of beautiful photographs and personal tales on many fronts, including Brenda's advocacy for accessibility of public properties.

Brenda lives in South Carolina, so her gardening season is well ahead of ours in New England where we've been enjoying daffodils and now the sudden surge forward of spring in early May. Brenda is a fan of raised beds of course and liking her facebook page is a great way to find out what's hot in the world of accessible gardening, like these rolling raised planters. Tips on planting and design abound, with lots of comments by other gardeners. While Brenda is a potent advocate for accessible garden design, her fresh perspective is enjoyed by all. Check her out on Pinterest too, where you'll find several articles and videos.

Garden of the Gods - Accessible Highlight in Colorado Springs

While in Colorado Springs last week, I visited Garden of the Gods to counter balance the rigors of an indoor conference. I can't recommend this park enough for a highly accessible outdoor opportunity in Colorado. It is a free city park with the scenic splendor of a national park, and a well planned accessible trail in the heart of the park's fantastic red rock formations.

Situated at the base of Pike's Peak, the easternmost 14,000 foot mountain in the U.S., the Garden of the Gods offers incredible panoramic views of the transitional environment where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains. Geology is dramatically displayed everywhere you look. The various colored outcroppings of rock were once sea beds, covered over time by other layers, then lifted vertically when what is now Pike's Peak uplifted from the earth. Over more time, erosion exposed the formations we see today. Its pretty wild to consider all that movement of the earth's surface while strolling the intriguing landscape on a firm, slip resistant, stable surface!

An Autism Alliance group starts a hike on the
wheelchair accessible Perkins trail.

The Garden of the Gods Visitor Center overlooks the main entrance of the park. It is well worth stopping here to enjoy the panoramic view and wheelchair accessible facility with nature exhibits and cafe before driving into the park.

The Perkins Central Garden Trail is a 1 1/2 mile long loop of 8 foot wide sidewalk with an elevational change of 30 feet as it winds among well-named rock formations such as Kissing Camels and Three Graces. There is a lengthy gradual grade descending from the main parking area that may present more challenge for some, so assistance might be needed for manual wheelchair users if you park in the first parking lot. There is a separate "handicap access only" parking area with several parking spots for more level access to the formations past the main parking lot as you drive a one way route through the park.


 

A black-billed magpie along the accessible trail.



Among the varying rocks, junipers, pines and scrub it is easy to spot rabbits and a variety of birds as you explore, including black-billed magpies, spotted towhees, pinon jays and a few birds familiar to easterners like robins and chickadees. The high rocks are alive with birds like white-throated swifts and ravens making use of their many eroded niches and holes for nesting.

  

The start of the Canyon Cabin trail offers level access
into a dry wash.



Four other "handicap access only" parking lots offer additional access at other locations throughout the park. Other parking areas all seem to have accessible parking spots. The ones I saw had curb cuts onto the start of trails. The park is heavily used so hiking trails are well packed and worn which allows for some wheelchair exploration at the start. The Canyon Cabin trail is a good choice for another look into the park. This trail enters a dry wash and offers a view of the Siamese Twins, a formation outside the accessible trail area. Most trails soon become rocky with challenging grades or built-in steps. The continuous process of erosion from trail use keeps a layer of loose material on the surface which requires caution for hikers.

Drive all the way through the park and you'll pass right between Balanced Rock and Steamboat Rock, where you can also stop and take pictures. Just past that you'll find the Garden of the Gods Trading Post with gift shop and cafe.

Popular activities in the park besides hiking and nature observation are technical rock climbing, bicycling, and horseback riding, all easy to observe as you enjoy the scene. Lots of people make use of this great location, including disability groups. Don't miss it if you are in Colorado!

Accessible Spring Happenings in the Parks

Here's a peek at some early spring happenings in Massachusetts State Parks. These events are recommended for their wheelchair accessible locations and diverse offerings across the Commonwealth.

EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS

21st Annual Spring Egg Hunt - Saturday, March 23 - Pope John Paul II Park, 763 Gallivan Blvd, Dorchester. Join the DCR and Phillips Candy House in a wonderful spring tradition. Children of all ages can join in the hunt for toy filled plastic eggs scattered across the fields with accessible trails. Event starts at 11am sharp.For more info call 617-333-7404 x 104. Free fun for the whole family and a great way to welcome springtime in the great outdoors.

Adaptive Skating - Tuesday, April 9 - 11:30am-1:30pm - Cronin Rink, 850 Revere Beach Parkway, Revere. This is DCR Universal Access Program's last skate of the season. Celebrate winter's end with gliding and games on the ice indoors - we'll even fly kites! Come onto the ice as you are - we have ice sleds, ice skates, yak trax, skate walkers, helmets and of course lots of colorful balls and pucks and kites. Call 617-626-1294 to register.

CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS

Great programs at Dunn State Park, 289 Pearl Street (101) in Gardner! For more information call (978) 632-7897.

Children's Story Hour - Wednesdays at 10am through April 24; Join us at the Dunn State Park Pond House Visitors Center for a children’s book reading around the fireplace on Wednesday mornings at 10am. This is a free program for young children and home schoolers. Come for a different story each week.

Photography Through The Seasons - Sunday, April 14 - 1pm. Join fellow photographers of all levels at the Pond House Visitor Center and share your photographs and experience. We invite you to bring one or two photographic prints to share with others and tell the story behind the image. Share your experience and expertise with others around the fireplace and then venture out on the trails to capture new images. Bring your camera. Program dates may extend beyond April depending on interest.

Poetry and Prose of the Outdoor World - Sunday, April 21 - 1pm. Join us in the warmth of the Pond House to share your favorite poems and prose of nature and the outdoors. We invite you to bring your own writings or those of a favorite poet or author that illustrate nature or the outdoors from hunting, camping, hiking, or just contemplation. If your own, tell the story behind it, or if someone else’s, tell us why you may have selected it or why it is special. Bring a journal if you wish and sit around a warm fire in the lodge style atmosphere of the Dunn Pond House Visitor Center.

PIONEER VALLEY   

Exhibit Expeditions! Saturday, March 30 - 1pm - Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls.
Interested in birds, reptiles, and mammals!? Well we have an experience for you! Join park rangers as we journey along the Connecticut River within the Great Falls Discovery Center. All ages welcome! Call 413-863-3221 for more info.

Holyoke Merry-Go-Round at Holyoke Heritage State Park downtown: Open Noon to 4pm Saturdays and Sundays through spring. Wheelchair accessible! Call 413-538-9839 for more info.

New England Invitational Sled Hockey Tournament - April 26-28 - Amelia Park, 21 South Broad Street, Westfield. Three days of sled hockey competition among adult and junior teams from around the Northeast. Don't miss it! Call 413-568-2503 for more info.


WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

At the Western Heritage Gateway State Park, Visitors Center, in North Adams learn more about the sun and the world of kites!

Sun Science, History and Culture - Saturday, March 23 - Program starts at 3pm

The Sun and the Great Moon Hoax - Saturday, March 30 - Program starts at 3pm

Paper Trails - Science, History and Culture of Kites Exhibit - March 23-June 8

Accessible Maple Sugaring Guide

Once again, we've come around to the magical time of year that still feels like winter, but is showing signs of spring. The days are gradually lengthening, the sun is a little brighter, and the sap is already flowing! Break out of the house, take a deep breath of fresh air and visit a state park for a sweet taste of the 2013 season!

Anyone living in eastern Massachusetts can take advantage of these special weekend events offered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation listed below. For those further away from the Boston area, scroll down to the end of this list.

March 2 - Tapping of the Trees - Middlesex Fells Reservation, Stoneham, 12 noon. Come to the Fells ‘sugar bush’ to tap maple trees at Breakheart Reservation. Meet at the Bothume House visitor center. The visitor center is located at 4 Woodland Road on Spot Pond in Middlesex Fells Reservation. This program is free. For more information please call (781) 233-0834. The Botume House is not wheelchair accessible.

March 2-3 - Maple Sugar Days -  Riverbend Farm, Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park, Uxbridge 11am-2pm. Co-sponsored with the Blackstone Valley Sugaring Association. Park staff and volunteers take you through the art and science of producing maple syrup. See trees being tapped, participate in gathering sap, and visit the steamy sugar house to watch syrup being made. Tours include both indoor and outdoor elements. Please dress for the weather, wear appropriate footwear for a short walk. Program is free for all ages and open to the public. Reasonable accommodations available upon request. To check on event status, please call River Bend Farm Visitor Center, located at 287 Oak Street, at 508-278-7604. Call to verify that sugarhouse is accessible if you use a wheelchair. Exhibits at Riverbend Farm are wheelchair accessible.

March 9-10 - Maple Sugar Festival - Brookwood Farm, Blue Hills Reservation, Milton, 10am-4pm.  It’s sugarin’ time in the Blue Hills! Join us as we make maple syrup in the traditional way at beautiful Brookwood Farm in Milton. Put on your boots and flannel shirt and join in the outdoor fun! Learn how to identify a sugar maple and see the sap drip into buckets from the trees. Travel along the trail of time and meet costumed characters demonstrating the changes in maple sugaring methods from Native Americans to Yankee farmers to modern day technology. Smell the wood smoke as you watch clouds of steam rise from the bubbling sap. Savor the taste of real maple syrup. Enjoy a free shuttle ride on the Maple Express Trolley. Activities are appropriate for all ages. Program admission is $6 Children under 2 are free. Maple Sugar Days is a joint program of the Department of Conservation and Recreation and Massachusetts Audubon’s Trailside Museum. The program admission fee is charged to benefit the Trailside Museum. This program is wheelchair accessible. For details or more information call (617) 698-1802 or (617) 333-0690.

March 16 - Maple Sugaring - Breakheart Reservation, Saugus, 10am-2pm. Learn about the history of maple sugarin’, participate in a tree identification activity, tap a maple, watch the evaporator at work in the Sugar Shack, and best of all taste the results! A $5 admission will support the program, used directly for the equipment you will see in action ($20 per family). Takes place in and near the wheelchair accessible Christopher Dunne Visitor Center at 177 Forest Street. For more information please call (781) 233-0834.


March 17 - Pancake Breakfast - Breakheart Reservation, Saugus, 9am-12noon. Join the Friends of Breakheart Reservation at the Christopher P. Dunne Visitor Center at Breakheart Reservation for their annual Pancake Breakfast. Visitors can eat delicious pancakes and watch DCR staff working in the Sugar Shack to see how syrup is made. There is a $5 admission fee. For more information please call (781) 233-0834.

March weekdays - Krug Sugarbush Tours - Chesterfield. Join the Park Staff at the Krug Sugarbush in the eastern Berkshires weekdays during the month of March to see how maple syrup is produced. Visitors will learn first-hand how the sap is collected from maple trees and boiled down to produce pure maple syrup. Operation is based on weather, so please call one day prior to your visit. Advanced group reservations are welcome. For more information please call (413) 268-7098. This site is not wheelchair accessible.

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is also offering a listing of sugarhouses where visitors can purchase maple products including maple syrup and maple candy and enjoy open houses and tours. A complete listing can be found by going to the MassGrown & Fresher website Google map and clicking on “maple”. You will need to contact sugar operations directly to find out about accessibility.

Kids and Kites on Ice!

Ice skating is a perennial favorite among winter activities that is growing in popularity as an adaptive recreation opportunity in Massachusetts state-owned rinks. Many rinks now house a couple of ice sleds for people with mobility impairments to use during public skating. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) also offers adaptive ice skating programs, in which the entire ice is reserved for use by people with disabilities and their families and friends. Over the years this has become a popular "come-as-you-are" program, with skaters using wheelchairs, walkers, ice sleds and regular ice skates to enjoy time on the ice. Over and over we find that being on ice inspires play!

We offer a variety of game elements at DCR Universal Access skating programs when we have full use of the rink. Balls of all sizes and pucks can be knocked into nets. Foam blocks are built into crash towers and re-stacked again. Orange cones are placed in slalom patterns. Often there are impromptu hockey games. It is amazing to see how skating skills improve when a game is involved! The skater's attention goes outward, beyond the sense of awkwardness and inability, to focus on a ball or puck, enabling them to improve sometimes without realizing it.

A recent inspiration for our adaptive skating programs is the addition of kites, which add a whole new sense of color and movement. We've been experimenting with kites on ice as a program element and it is a lot of fun for skaters of all ages!

This activity is best with plenty of open space on the ice. Outdoors it won't work if trees are close by, otherwise the sky's the limit! At our indoor programs it works best when attendance is on the low side, and of course, the ceiling requires careful flying technique.

Our typical kite flight involves someone skating backwards with a kite, which generates enough breeze to give lift to lightweight kites. A good skater can avoid mishap while keeping the kite at an appropriate height by setting a string length with one hand holding the line winder and using the other hand to pull in or release a small amount of line as needed. Power wheelchair users can lift kites easily if they have reasonable traction, but may not be able to view the kite in the air themselves. Such flights serve as a colorful element for others to enjoy, both on and off the ice.

We found out last week that kids on skates can handle small kites pretty easily. They seem to appreciate the novelty of trying two different activities together. I noticed kids improving their agility and speed, learning to look backward and forward and monitor their movement in space.

Kids in sleds being pushed can expand their sense of space by watching kites, following them, and having a kite flown with them. I have found it quite easy to control the height and flight pattern of longer kites as well as simple ones, to avoid skaters and give selected participants a closer encounter.

So far we've had no kite flying collisions, entanglements, cut string or kites caught on the ceiling. Kite flights last just a few minutes usually. The visual display of a kite in flight seems to inspire the level of attention necessary for sighted people to avoid them. Precautions should be taken if anyone on the ice has a visual impairment.

If you are looking for some uplifting color in late winter and have access to ice, try flying kites!

Blue Hills Trailside Museum - Fully Accessible!



A vintage sign at the entrance to outdoor wildlife exhibits.


Looking for an inclusive and satisfying outing in the Boston area? The Blue Hills Trailside Museum is a great place to visit with family, friends or solo to connect with nature. I stopped in last week before the big snowstorm to check out the accessible outdoor trail through native wildlife exhibits. It was a real treat to connect with live animals there in the middle of winter!

Especially the river otter! On this crisp sunny day, she was busy swimming. I marveled at her swift and fluid grace in water and her awkward gait on land. She criss-crossed her pool repeatedly, flipping over backwards at the shore and swimming upside down back across, occasionally popping up and over floating tree trunk root systems. River otters are truly delightful animals, though you'll notice a strong fishy odor in their presence.


A female otter pauses while exercising in an outdoor pool.



Other animals you can visit outdoors at Blue Hills Trailside Museum are white-tailed deer, red-tailed hawks, a turkey vulture, great-horned owl and snowy owl. A pond alongside the museum is a haven for waterfowl and well-stocked bird feeders guarantee the presence of birds.

The routes to these exhibits are now more easily navigable by visitors with visual impairments thanks to Massachusetts Audubon's recent additions of a guide rope system with Braille and large print signage. An audio tour can be downloaded from their website year round and can also be accessed on site by cell phone or MP3 player. The audio tour is a great way for anyone to enhance their experience and learn more about the local wildlife. Though the area outside the museum is on a hillside, all the slopes meet accessibility standards and there are alternate routes to stairways. Kudos to Massachusetts Audubon for such a successful access improvement!



Wooden beads indicate stops along the guide rope trail.


Inside the museum, exhibits take you through the habitats of the Blue Hills, from lowlands to the summit. Carefully crafted and enchantingly displayed, information is easy to understand and presented in multidimensional ways. More live animals are inside, including a screech owl, kestrel, opossum, skunk, rare snakes and a beehive. Again, there is a guided system for those with visual impairments enhanced with audio sounds and tactile opportunities at nearly every turn that kids will love too.

Massachusetts Audubon offers an array of educational programs for all ages. Bird of prey presentations are a regular favorite. There is a fee for most programs I saw advertised, though some are free to members. Don't miss the annual Maple Sugar Festival coming up March 9-10!

For more information, visit www.massaudubon.org

Ski and Para Triathlon Opportunities for Southern New Englanders

The Sports Association of the Gaylord Hospital in Connecticut has some great recreation opportunities coming up for those who live in southern New England. They are a Paralympic Sports Club and a chapter of Disabled Sports. Call 203-284-2772 for more info and to register for any of these programs.

On February 13th, there will be a free adaptive cross country skiing and snowshoeing program at Winding Trails in Farmington, Connecticut from 1-3pm.

There are three upcoming adaptive downhill ski trips! These trips are only $40! You must call at least 2 weeks in advance to register!

February 9 - Mt. Snow, Vermont
February 23 -  Mt. Bromley, Vermont
March 16 - Mt. Sunapee, New Hampshire

If you are a new or experienced hard core athlete, consider training to compete in a sprint Para Triathlon in September. The Sports Association is teaming up with the Greater Hartford YMCA and will be sponsoring several athletes and at least one relay team of three athletes. Paperwork must be submitted by March 1 so don't hesitate to call 203-284-2772 if you are interested.

Photos courtesy of the Sports Association.

Sybil Feldman 1940-2012



Sybil and her PCA at the Adaptive Recreation Fair in
Boston in June 2011.

 I was saddened to find out in the past week of Sybil Feldman's death last November. I knew her as someone who loved outdoor recreation and saw her regularly through the years at adaptive recreation programs and events. In her obituary and other public announcements, she is heralded as a disability activist with the nickname "Sybil Disobedience". Sybil was seventy-two years old when she died of pneumonia.

Sybil had cerebral palsy and spent over twenty years living at the Fernald School, an institution for people with disabilities that was unfortunately known for human rights abuses and poor quality of education. She fought her way out and came to live in her own apartment with the support of personal care attendants.


Sybil at far left in her wheelchair, with BCIL members.


Sybil was a steady presence at disability events in Boston for decades and also traveled to places as far away as Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Orlando to support the rights of people with disabilities. She was arrested six times in political actions that helped lay the foundation for national change and better programs and services. She also promoted disability rights to the Massachusetts state legislature, governor, attorney general and U.S. Congress by testifying in hearings and telling her story at public meetings.

As Bill Henning of the Boston Center for Independent Living said, "Her life after Fernald was a dramatic shout in the face of those who would isolate, demean, and deny people with disabilities."

And I say, thank you Sybil for your indomitable spirit, for your lifelong fight to improve the lives of people with disabilities and for taking the time to get out and play!

Thanks to Bill Henning, the Executive Director of the Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL) for permission to share the information in his article "Passing of a Disability Rights Champion" in the Winter 2013 issue of Disability Issues, a publication of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network.