On Wednesday, June 19, five residents of St. Joseph’s Manor enjoyed some fresh air and sunshine during the first outing of an electric-assisted trishaw.
“They did enjoy themselves. The smiles on their faces, you can tell that they had an enjoyable time. Yes, the last gentleman really enjoyed going down there and seeing the water and stuff,” trishaw driver, Jack Peterson, told ElliotLakeToday in an interview.
Peterson also serves as the Elliot Lake XC Ski and Bike Club president.
He said the idea to bring this to Elliot Lake was inspired by a Cycling Without Age program when a board member brought the idea to the club, last fall.
“It’s all over Ontario and Canada and parts of the U.S.,” Peterson said.
“We decided to have a look at it to see if there was something we could do and participate in. We found out, it’s very expensive. The machine itself is almost $11,000. The insurances that we have to carry on it are $2,700. Then there's the maintenance and so on and so forth. So that almost put it out of the ballpark.”
Club reached out and the community supported the project
“Then the ‘100 Elliot Lakers Who Care,’ came up.” The fundraising project, sponsored by the Elliot Lake Rotary Club, created a pot of funds for a local project to be chosen by the donors who each purchased a $100 ticket.
Elliot Lake XC Ski and Bike club vice-president, Paul Eldon, pitched the trishaw project at the Rotary Club’s competition evening, last November. When the votes were tallied, the trishaw project was chosen for the pot of over $8,000. That story is here.
Peterson: “I definitely would like to thank the Rotary Club!”
He continued, “So, we figured, okay, We were able to do that, so we hit the pavement.”
And he read from a list of local business supporters who helped make the project possible.
- A.C. Towing
- Karis Disabilities Services
- Hutchinson Automotive & Glass
- MBS Plumbing and Heating
- J Breen Coffee Services
- OK Tire
- Plan A Algoma
- St. Joseph’s Manor
- Sign Rite
- 108 Lifestyle & Sporting Goods
- Jack’s Ski and Bike Shack
Peterson added special thanks to "the Accessibility Committee with the city of Elliot Lake.” The committee contributed $4,700 to the project.
Club members have also put a lot of effort into the project. “There is a lot of behind the scenes work with a project like this,” he said, noting the legal and safety requirements.
More volunteers needed to train as drivers
While St. Joseph's Manor was the first location, the club is planning more outings for residents at other residential care facilities in Elliot Lake, too.
“We have pilot handbooks, passenger handbooks, waiver forms. We've been able to iron that all out in the last three months bringing us to our very first ride."
“Now that we have everything set up, we have pilot training.”
Elliot Lakers interested in learning more about the project or training as drivers can read more and contact the club through their website here.