The historic six-quad outing!
 

 

On April 26th, 2003, six different quadriplegics actually bowled: three guys, three girls; three sip-and-puff drivers, three joystick drivers (see the tale-of-the-tape below:).  It was a historic event that we hope to make commonplace at bowling alley's throughout the country.

The who's who:

In the back, from left to right: MGT cofounders Vince Tifer, and Sharon & Claude Giguere.  Bowlers, from left to right: Michelle Hlavek, Wendell Howell Jr., Jeff Parker, Jennifer Harman, Bill Miller, and Rhonda Reese.  Photo by Peter Carston 4-26-2003.

The tale-of-the-tape:

Games: 16 (at the beautiful smoke-free Spanish Springs Lanes in The Villages, FL)
Quadriplegics: 6 (three females, three males)
Chair styles accommodated: 6 different models, operated at different speeds
Driving systems: 3 mouth-controlled "sip-and-puffs" and 3 hand-controlled "joysticks"
High score by gender: females (3rd, 5th, 6th), males (1st, 2nd, 4th)
High score by driving system: sip-and-puff (1st, 5th, 6th), joystick (2nd, 3rd, 4th)

All things considered... it was a FABULOUS day. The huge smiles, the cheering gallery, success from first-time users (I was the only one with Ramp-style experience), it was... in a word... AWESOME.  I'd like to thank Spanish Springs, the volunteer Quad Squad bowlers, and also my partners for making this happen.  Thank you!

And for everyone reading this, we indeed hope to make these bowling outings commonplace across the country.  Contact us for details.

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