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I had dropped out of college for the spring quarter of my freshman year, 1954, and was feeling a bit useless. I began visiting my friend Sid who was a paraplegic.
He had been severely injured in a diving accident the summer before. He was busily studying work given him by tutors from Youngstown State University (then Youngstown College) and was trying to teach me chess, somewhat futilely it turned out. In spite of these activities he was very unhappy and quite candidly told me so. He wanted to get out and about.
My friend up the street from Sid’s house had made a little gasoline-powered car and I wheeled Sid up Adelaide to take a look at it as a possible vehicle for him. After thoroughly looking at the car, it finally became obvious that it couldn’t be adapted for Sid’s use.
That night at supper, I told my dad about the problem. My dad had seen a handicapped young man at Trumbull Memorial Hospital who was monitoring the parking lot there using an electric-powered cart for his mobility. This was in the days before golf carts, and to us, the three-wheeled vehicle was very unusual, but it looked like one that could be adapted for Sid’s use.
My dad negotiated with the young man at TMH to borrow his electric cart for a short time. Soon the cart was on a flat bed truck to the Warren Transportation Company bus garage where my dad was general manager.
Mechanics, electricians, painters, body men and upholstery guys swarmed over the little electric cart taking pictures and measurements, and discovering how that little vehicle was controlled.
Dad was a Warren Rotarian, and he appealed to his fellow Rotarians for help. Soon, sheet metal, angle iron, electrical supplies, wheels and tires, an electric motor, upholstery materials, paint and everything the new vehicle would need was donated.
Some of the donors were Peerless Electric, American Welding, Ohio Spring and Welding, Ohio Lamp, Firestone on High Street, and Warren Parts. I believe all of these local businesses are gone now.
The men at the bus garage and others with the right expertise volunteered their time, and had a duplicate of the borrowed cart up and running before the month was out.
I developed the special hand grips and wrist rests that Sid needed for the hand controls, and chose the color, which was the new 1954 Ford goldenrod yellow. The cart had black trim with a dark green top made from bus upholstery, and bright red reflective tape across the back.
Sid loved that little cart and just about drove it everywhere. Sometimes he would get stuck far from home when the battery wore down.
Later, Sid learned to drive an automobile with special hand controls and was soon commuting to YSU. He ultimately earned his doctorate and became a college professor,
Sid and my dad are gone now, but the memory of that quarter I dropped out of college will live on forever with me.
Mumford is a Warren resident.