| South Elgin weighs parks upgrades
SOUTH ELGIN -- Village parks could be more accessible for those with disabilities, a study reported this week. While Jim Reuter, the village's parks and recreation department director, said that for the most part the village's 31 parks studied comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, there are about $145,000 in projects that would make them more so. The study, Reuter said, looked at the village's "active" parks, with play and recreation areas, but not at its wetland parks. The village board received the study results Monday. "We needed the analysis to make sure we are ADA-compliant," Reuter said this week. He will take that study to the village board's park committee and use it to create a five-year plan to address those needs, Reuter said. "It is a tool for budgeting," Reuter said.
I did my research on adult diapers
Much was made last week of U.S. Navy captain and astronaut Lisa Nowak. She put on an adult diaper in order to drive as quickly as possible from Houston to Orlando to confront the woman who had the affection of a man Nowak wanted. Although donning a diaper to decrease the number of bathroom stops is not something you or I would think to do, otherwise healthy adults do wear diapers more often than we realize for good reasons. Nowak, who was last in space on the shuttle Discovery in July, would have worn a diaper during launches and landings as all astronauts do. It takes a long time to get into those space suits, so taking one off to go to the bathroom would use up valuable time. The super-absorbent fabric used in disposable diapers, which can hold up to 400 times its weight, was developed so Apollo astronauts could stay on spacewalks for at least six hours.
Looking for a place to call their own
Deborah Phillips wants a life for her mentally handicapped daughter that extends beyond the confines of her Gillette home. “There's nowhere I can take her anywhere here in town to go to the movies, be with friends and know she's going to be safe," Phillips said. “(I want) to give her a small measure of independence." Phillips knows she's not alone. That's why she began Bobbi's Friends. Named after her 30-year-old daughter, the now fully incorporated nonprofit organization needs a building that can serve as a recreation center for physically and/or mentally handicapped “clients." The supervised center that Phillips envisions has pool and ping pong tables, DVD and music libraries, computers, a variety of games and four vehicles to transport people to dinners, movies and various other social events.
Community Calendar
7 p.m. Jan. 16, Performing Arts Center, Georgia Southern University. Rev. Bernice King, youngest daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, will present. Call (912) 681-0336. "Singin' in the Rain" 6 p.m. dinner and 7:30 p.m. movie Jan. 16, Jewish Education Alliance, 5111 Abercorn St. Candlelight dinner and showing of the classic film. Cost: $16 general; $10 seniors. Seating is limited. Call 355-8111 by Jan. 11. WEDNESDAY Trustees' Garden Club 11 a.m. Jan. 17, Coastal Georgia Center, 305 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Lecture by Dr. Dan Krall and Suzanne Vandermark on Ellen Biddle Shipman. Shipman was named the Dean of Women Landscape Architects by "House and Garden Magazine." Call 233-6950.
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