News and notes from Imagine! and the Imagine! Foundation.
Good News Friday!
Sep-11-2020
Dan Fox is Imagine!’s Transportation Coordinator, responsible for making sure our vehicle fleet is in proper working order so we can keep the people we serve mobile and enable them to engage in their communities in meaningful ways. In many ways, Dan literally keeps Imagine! running.
It turns out that providing transportation options to people with disabilities runs in Dan’s blood. In fact, 60 years ago this October, Dan’s grandfather, Claude Fox, created a prototype motorized vehicle that in many ways served as a precursor to today’s electric wheelchairs. Dubbed “The Dream Boat,” Claude built the vehicle for a young resident of Deer Trail, Colorado, named Don Helling, who had been paralyzed after a bout with polio.
Starting with an old Studabaker differential and an old Plymouth transmission, Claude built a vehicle that allowed Don to travel in style. Don was able to control the Dream Boat using a lever, which, through the use of “solenoid switches, Micro switches, old door bells and devices that only Claude could figure out, there developed a control center that the slightest movement forward applies the break, backward motion controls the throttle, and left and right movement steers the vehicle.”
While Imagine! is justifiably proud of our 55 plus years of leading the use in technology to support people with a variety of disabilities, this story is a good reminder that there has always been smart, big hearted people who see solutions where others only see barriers. We’re honored to have Dan on our staff, carrying on his grandfather’s legacy of ensuring that accessibility to Colorado’s many wonders is available to all.
Check out a couple of pictures of the Dream Boat below, along with an article from the Tri-County Tribune dated October 18, 1960, describing Claude’s creation.
