ASHLAND – Adaptive bicycles are now available at Freer Field and Dale Roy School for individuals with disabilities, thanks to a partnership between Ashland County Park District and the Samaritan Foundation.
Two of the bikes — a wheelchair bicycle tandem and a side-by-side tricycle — are part of the park district’s new Everyone Rides project to provide people with limited mobility access to the park district’s paved trails.
“It’s for a population that has mobility issues and can’t always have accessibility to everything,” said Christina Teevan, executive director of Ashland Special Needs Ministry. “They come to the park and sometimes have to sit on a bench or stay in their wheelchair, so they miss out on things. This will be a great way for them to have pure mobility when they come to the parks.”
The wheelchair bicycle tandem was donated by the Samaritan Foundation while the side-by-side tricycle was purchased by the park district using a donation from an anonymous private individual.
Samaritan Foundtaion also donated a side-by-side tricycle to Dale Roy School, which is located next to Freer Field and serves students with disabilities.
“We love partnering with other charities to make things happen for the community in the area of health and wellness,” said foundation chairperson Dick Beal. “There are so many people that can benefit from this. That’s why we did it.”
Park district commissioner Bob DeSanto had the idea for the Everyone Rides project after seeing a similar program at a park district in Marysville.
Freer Field already had a four-foot-wide paved loop and a barn that could be used to store the bicycles, so DeSanto and other park district leaders figured it would make a good location for the program.
The park already is home to “Ryan’s ‘Me Too’ Playground,” a playground where each piece of equipment is designed to be safer and more accessible for children with special needs while still being enjoyable for other children. That playground was another project led by DeSanto, inspired by his grand son who has Down Syndrome.
DeSanto said he is eager to see the bikes put to good use.
“I can tell you from what I’ve seen already, it brings a lot of joy,” he said.
The bicycles will be available for public use at Freer Field 9 a.m. to noon each Saturday from Sept. 29 through Nov. 3, weather permitting. Volunteers will be on site at the Freer Field barn to assist riders.
After that, park district director Stephanie Wolleman said, availability of the bicycles will be determined based on the amount of volunteer support the park district receives.
Teevan said her ministry’s volunteers are committed to helping, but the park district also needs additional volunteers. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Wolleman at 419-289-3524.
