July Meeting

Hello Everyone,

Gary and Heidi Pierce have invited us to their house for a cookout for the July meeting. They have a swimming pool with a lift and a stocked pond in the back yard, so bring a suit and/or a fishing pole if you are interested. Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and soda will be provided. Please RSVP and bring a side dish if you are able.

Sunday, July 10^th, 2011

1pm - ?

Gary and Heidi's House

440 Elk Creek Ct.
Hebron, IN 45341

Map

June Meeting and more...

Hello Everyone,

Our next meeting will be:

Sunday June 5, 2011
1:00 pm at
Gelsosomo's Pizza
2605 LaPorte Ave
Valparaiso IN
477-4255
map | driving directions

*Please RSVP for the meeting. Hope to see you there!
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Some dates to keep in mind are:

*June 4 -
Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Program
Annual Open House & Lunch
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Christening of 2.4 meter GUST
http://www.juddgoldmansailing.org/event_calendar.html

*June 8, 9 -
RHI Sports’ annual water ski clinic
8:00am to 5:00pm
Morse Reservoir at Red Bridge Park
697 West Jackson St.
Cicero IN, 46034
$10 per Skier per day. Lunch is available and free both days!
To register please go to: http://2011rhispwaterskiclinic.eventbrite.com. If you have any questions, please contact RHI Sports by phone at: 317-329-2281 or by email at: rhisp@rhin.com. Hope to see you there.

*Adaptive Adventures also has a number of events that may be of interest to some of you as well. From handcycling, kayaking in Chicago; to water skiing in Twin Lakes, WI; to camping in Savanna, IL. Check them out at http://adaptiveadventures.org/events

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If anyone else has any information they would like to share, please feel free to do so.

May Meeting and More...

Hello Everyone,

Our next meeting will be:

Sunday May 1, 2011
1:00 pm at
Gelsosomo's Pizza
2605 LaPorte Ave
Valparaiso IN
477-4255
map | driving directions

*Please RSVP for the meeting. Hope to see you there!

A few of us attended a wheelchair tennis clinic at Turnstone Center in Forte Wayne, Indiana on Saturday, April 16, 2011. The pictures can be found here.

Other dates to keep in mind are:

Saturday, May 15 -
Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation
Day at the Races
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, IN
http://www.samschmidt.org/events

June 4 -
Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Program
Annual Open House & Lunch
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Christening of 2.4 meter GUST
http://www.juddgoldmansailing.org/event_calendar.html


Other News:

Unite 2 Fight Paralysis has videos from Working 2 Walk 2010, a science symposium where scientists working on curing paralysis meet with 200 patient advocates and their families. http://www.vimeo.com/u2fp

ADA Compliance - If you are ever in doubt of whether a concert venue of stadium is operating under the ADA her is the resource to check. http://www.ada.gov/stdspdf.htm

Kim's friend's band is playing at the Michigan City American Legion on Saturday if anyone is interested in going. They are interested in doing a benefit concert for our group, so it might be nice to check them out and give them a little support before they head out on tour this summer.

Wheelchair Tennis Clinic

The Turnstone Center and Wildwood Raquet Club hosted a wheelchair tennis clinic on April 16, 2011. It was a good time, with a pretty good turn out for the morning session. About half the people continued on to the afternoon session.

Check In 10:00am - 10:30am
Opening Session at Turnstone 10:30am - 12:30pm
Lunch at Turnstone at 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Afternoon Session at Wildwood Racquet Club at 2:00pm - 4:00pm

My daughter went with me and got to experience tennis from a sports chair and standing. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and wouldn't mind having a sports chair of my own so that I could play tennis locally... because the chair does make that much of a difference.

On the Ice At the United Center

On March 26, 2011, two members of the NWI SCI Group played in an exhibition sled hockey game with the RIC Blackhawks before the Blackhawks faced off against the Ducks. Here are some pictures. Congratulations Gary and Paul!

A Thank You from the Lab of Dr. Hans Kierstead

In December of 2010, the Northwest Indiana Spinal Cord Injury Group donated $2000 to the University of California-Irvine to help fund the research of Dr. Hans Kierstead. We got this thank you card in the mail in the beginning of March.

March Meeting - date change and more...

Hello Everyone,

The date of our next meeting has been changed to:

Saturday, March 5, 2011
1:00 pm at
Gelsosomo's Pizza
2605 LaPorte Ave
Valparaiso IN
477-4255
map | driving directions

*Please RSVP for the meeting. Hope to see you there!

The date of our March meeting has been moved due to the fact that three members of the Northwest Indiana Spinal Cord Injury Group have started playing sled hockey with the RIC Blackhawks and there is a scrimmage scheduled for the RIC Blackhawks to play GLASA’s Falcons sled hockey team on Sunday, March 6^th and March 13^th from 3:15pm – 5:30pm at the Hot Shot rink in Lake Bluff, IL.

Gary and Paul have been going to practices for a while now and I just started. If you are free and interested in supporting the fellow NWI members in their Sled Hockey endeavors, please feel free to ask one of us for more information.

To learn more about RIC Blackhawk Sled Hockey...


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*Hopefully those members who took part in the adaptive ski trips with Adaptive Adventures will be in attendance to regale us with their tails of adventure, as well.
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A message from Kim...

My friend Drew and his band This Last Dance are having a FREE show in Michigan City and he wants us to attend!

March 3rd, 10pm
Ryan's Irish Pub
401 Franklin St
Michigan City, IN

It's a pretty open bar, but if we need to, Drew said that we can sit to the side where they will be. They want to do fundraisers for us so this is a great way to find out what their music sounds like. I think they're awesome! Hope to see you all there!

February Meeting

Hello Everyone,

I hope that you have all made it through the Blizzard of 2011 and have gotten yourselves dug out by now. This is just a reminder that the February meeting of the Northwest Indiana Spinal Cord Injury Group will be:

Sunday, February 6, 2011
1:00 pm at
Gelsosomo's Pizza
2605 LaPorte Ave
Valparaiso IN
477-4255
map | driving directions

Bring your Valentine out for some pizza...
Please RSVP if possible... Hope to see you there!

Adaptive Snow Skiing

Hello Everyone,

On January 18th, 2011 three members of the Northwest Indiana Spinal Cord Injury Group participated in the Adaptive Ski and Ride Program at Wilmot Mountain. The pictures can be found here.

Anyone interested in participating in future skiing outings please read the email below and contact Diana Helt (dhelt@ric.org) and Angela Allen (angela@adaptiveadventures.org ). Let me know if you get scheduled, because the NWI SCI Group would like to pay for your lift ticket to help facilitate your adaptive skiing experience.



My Skiing Experience...

I had never been skiing before this trip, and I was definitely nervous going into it. The organizers and the volunteers really instill confidence though and make you feel as comfortable as possible. We started out getting basic instruction on the equipment and getting fitted into our skis in the warmth of the lodge. Once secure, we headed just outside the door to get back into the skis on the snow. That's where you get more instruction on turning, stopping, and getting on the lift. Turning the mono-ski was surprisingly easy. After getting acquainted with the skis, Joel said our group looked balanced, stable, comfortable, and confident... and if we felt that way we should start skiing. We skipped the "bunny hill" and went straight to the ski lift to hit the slopes. They stop the lift to help you get on the lift chair with your instructor/volunteer and may or may not stop at the top to let you off. You are on the seat, in your ski, and clipped to the lift the whole way up. Once you're on top, it's time to go down the hill. It was an amazing experience! I couldn't even tell that my instructor was right behind me holding on to the straps the whole way down the first couple of times.We probably got to take 4 or 5 runs before it was time to go. I have to say that it was one of the more exciting, exhilarating, and awesomely terrifying experiences I've had in a long time. I will go again!

If anyone else cares to write about their skiing or any other experience I would love to post it on this blogsite.

Joe White

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

Hello Everyone,

2010 seemed like a busy year for some, if not most of us. We have a couple of new college graduates, some of us took adaptive sailing lessons, some of us have a new pool, and still others have started playing sled hockey. If you have learned something new or picked up a new hobby or sport that you'd like to share with everyone, let me know. I'd love to send an email out and post about it on nwiscig.blogspot.com. We had a great turnout for the Spinal Cord Injury Walk this year as well. Just over 120 people were in attendance raising over $6000. We donated $2000 of it to Unite 2 Fight Paralysis, and $2000 to research facility committed to curing paralysis

It seems that we've lost a couple of group members and their families to the beautiful Denver Colorado area. I can't wait to go visit. The up side to wheelchair friends moving across the country is that you know you have a wheelchair accessible place to visit when you get a chance. Or at least one can hold out hope for that being the case.

For those of you who are sticking it out in Northwest Indiana, we are planning to stay just as busy in the upcoming year. We should be able to look forward to local kayak/canoe outings along with the possibility of more adaptive sailing, adaptive scuba diving, adaptive water skiing, and handcycle rides. If you have any other ideas, let me know. We are open to suggestions.

These are the tentative dates for the NWI SCI Group meeting for the rest of the year. We will try to send out a reminder email every couple of weeks. If anyone wishes to receive any other form of reminder let us know how we can accommodate you.

Sunday, February 6,2011

Sunday, March 6, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011

Sunday, May 1, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011

Sunday, July 10, 2011*
Sunday, August 7, 2011

Sunday, September 11, 2011*
Sunday, October 2, 2011

Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011

*Denotes 2nd Sunday of the month due to holiday weekend.

Check back to see what's going on and what's gone on...

Joe White