Wheelchair Bowling is available throught the Parks & Rec Dept. of Louisville on the following Fridays from 10 a.m. until Noon at Fern Bowl:  July 18, August 15, 22& 29

Participants must be 18 years of age or older.  Fee: $32

Payment, by check or money order, is requested in advance. Registration is required for all programs; please make sure you are signed up for any program before arrival in case of a cancellation. For more information or to preregister, please call 456-8148. 

You can now start voting for this years ESPY awards presented by ESPN. There’s four finalist for both the best female athlete with a disability and best male athlete with a disability. You can go on-line and vote at: 

http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/specialsection/espys2008/#

The USA Disabled Hockey Section has instituted a new program, called the  One Kid . . .One Sled . . .One Shot . . .A Hockey Player for Life!  It’s a program that is  designed to help bring new players into the sport of sled hockey by initiating a loaner sled program for rinks and organizations who want to conduct “Learn to Play Sled Hockey” clinics but were prevented from doing so due to the lack of sleds and sticks needed to conduct such introductory clinics. 

In traditional hockey programs, rinks and organizations conduct various types of  “Learn to Skate” programs utilizing existing skates from rink operated skate rental shops and/or from donations of used skates. For new players wishing to try sled hockey for the first time this was all but impossible as most rinks and/or organizations  do not have the sleds needed to make this feasible. 

Through a grant from the USA Hockey Foundation, the USA Disabled Hockey Section through the One Kid . . .One Sled . . .One Shot . . .A Hockey Player for Life!  Program has purchased 25 sleds of various sizes to be loaned out to rinks and organizations to be used to conduct “Learn to Play Sled Hockey” clinics.  

The One Kid . . .One Sled . . .One Shot . . .A Hockey Player for Life!  Program is easy to implement. If your rink or organization would like to conduct a “Learn to Play  Sled Hockey” clinic, simply fill out the request form located on the USA Hockey website (www.usahockey.com - click Disabled Hockey on the left hand side) and submit. Applications will be determined on a first come-first serve basis. The sleds and sticks will be shipped directly to the rink you are conducting the clinic at three days before the date of the clinic. You are then required to ship the sleds back three days after the conclusion of the clinic. All shipping charges will be paid by USA Hockey. It’s that simple!

This new One Kid . . .One Sled . . .One Shot . . .A Hockey Player for Life!  Program will allow your rink or organization to open the doors to a whole new market of potential sled players. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity and start a sled  program within your rink or organization today. 

As Published: June 30, 2008 09:34 am  The Times Tribune        

The women behind ‘Hannah’

By Samantha Swindler, Managing Editor

Life was far from easy for 17-year-old Leona Carpenter, but she faced it with pride and optimism, and she did from the confines of her wicker-back wheelchair. 

Leona’s life was an inspiration to her family, and in particular, her great-niece Margie Smith, whose first novel, “Hannah from Loam Hill,” is based on Leona’s story. 

Smith, who was born in Laurel County but now lives in South Carolina, spent six months researching her great-aunt Leona for the character of Hannah, and spent a year writing the book. 

“The idea just came from the admiration that I had for her, because ever since I knew her she was in a wheelchair, and she was so courageous, she just seemed like a happy person all the time,” Smith said. “She was very self-sufficient, very independent.”

Leona was born in the Horse Lick community of Jackson County in 1921.

At age 17, Leona developed septicemia —  a blood poisoning disease from an infected pimple on her face. She became very ill and laid in bed for weeks before the county’s only doctor came to see her. 

“Her bowels and kidneys had locked up and her mind was coming and going,” Smith said. “He (the doctor) gave her a shot of antibiotics and she got better. He said, whatever you do, don’t get out in the heat and walk.”

After a few days passed, however, Leona felt well enough to walk to her sister’s house. 

“On the way back, a storm came and she got caught in the storm, and she started running to get home, and the next day her legs went paralyzed,” Smith said.

Leona was taken to a hospital in Louisville, where she underwent six months of rehabilitation. 

She came home in an L&N rail car in a wicker-back wheelchair. 

The book follows “Hannah” during her time in the hospital, during World War II, when she wrote men who had gone off to war, and afterward. 

Smith found love notes, cards and letters from her great-aunt, and parts of the book are based on what she found in Leona’s diary…

… Smith said too many stories of Carpenter’s life were missing for a biography, and “I didn’t want it to be a book of genealogy.”

For legal reasons, because parts of the book are fictionalized, she couldn’t use Carpenter’s name, but in the end, Smith said her mother came to love the final product.

“There is a lot of work that went into it, but I’m glad that I did it,” Smith said.

Copies of “Hannah of Loam Hill” can be purchased via links found at www.marjoriersmith.com or at SonShine Christian Books in Corbin or Brookhaven in London. A copy can also be checked out from the Laurel County Public Library.