Welcome to Kenmare

Feature Stories (Vol. 110 No. 18--4/30/2008)

Protest of parking fine leads to improved handicapped access

By Caroline Downs

Efraim Pedersen of Kenmare thinks maybe his refusal to pay a parking ticket a few years ago led to improved handicapped parking at Kenmare High School.

Efraim and his wife Margaret moved into Kenmare late in 2001 after farming north of town for decades. Senior housing had no vacancies at the time, so they searched for a home that would accommodate Efraim’s walker and wheelchair.

By the next spring, Efraim added a motorized scooter to his options for access. On mild days in the spring, summer and fall, Kenmare citizens often see Efraim taking a morning ride around town. "I like to get out on the scooter," he said. "I can get around and visit people and pester them a little bit."

He and Margaret continue to be active at the rural Lutheran churches, and they attend community and school events when they can, often with the assistance of their daughter and son-in-law Jean and Bryan Quigley. One of those outings for Efraim and Bryan, to a high school basketball game on a snowy January night, led to Efraim’s act of defiance.

At the time, only two or three handicapped parking spaces were available at the high school, according to Efraim, and snow and ice covered any marks for those sites as well as the curb. Bryan drove the car into the loop directly outside the school’s west doors to provide safer access for Efraim and then parked the car close by after he wheeled Efraim inside.

The two watched the game, then left with the rest of the crowd, only to discover a ticket left by the city police. Apparently, the car had been parked on the sidewalk. On the drive home, Efraim saw one of the patrolmen, so he and Bryan stopped to talk about the ticket only to be told he would have to pay.

The circumstances frustrated Efraim. "There were three wheelchairs [at the game] that night," he said. "When we left, we saw a woman pushing a man in a wheelchair to the west, through the ice and snow. She’d gone at least a block and a half when we left."

He appeared before the municipal judge as required and announced he wouldn’t pay the ticket, citing the conditions. "You didn’t even know there was a sidewalk there," he recalled. "You couldn’t see it for ice and snow."

Efraim’s argument convinced the judge, and Kenmare High School officials designated the entire sidewalk immediately in front of the school for handicapped parking, complete with a painted blue curb and extensive signage.

While he’s happy to have better access to events at the high school now, Efraim remains concerned about handicapped accessibility in general. He appreciates the establishments with automatic doors, like the clinic, the Baptist Home, and Gartner’s Jack & Jill. "Otherwise, if I’m on my scooter, I can’t get close enough to open the door on my own," he said. "The front end of the scooter is in the way. If there’s somebody around, somebody will hold the door for me. People are really good to help me."

Efraim would like to see improved conditions for wheelchairs and walkers around town. He agrees with Alice Pausig and Butch Norrie (see story from April 16th) that some handicapped access downtown is too steep to be safe. He has also been frustrated by the low numbers of handicapped parking spaces at some of the community’s churches.

Margaret noted the situation at Nazareth Lutheran Church. "He can take his scooter and ride from home here around on the sidewalks to Nazareth Lutheran just fine in good weather," she said, "but they don’t have a place in front of the church to pull a car up."

In recent years, the church has added a ramp to its front entrance. Efraim grinned as he described his son-in-law’s solution for some occasions. "If there’s an opening among the cars in front there, he drives right up to the ramp and gets me out," he said. "Then he goes and parks the car."

The Pedersens also mentioned the poor condition of sidewalks around town. Efraim feels more secure in his wheelchair or on his scooter when he’s outdoors because he can’t keep the four legs of his walker in contact with the uneven surfaces of the sidewalks.

"You’re not aware of all this, until you can’t do it," Margaret added.

Efraim and Margaret remain concerned about handicapped access in Kenmare and believe that better circumstances would keep more elderly people in town. Efraim referred to some of his longtime friends in the rural community. "There’s been people up north who have moved to Minot who would have just as soon lived in Kenmare," he said.

Margaret said she and Efraim followed suit one winter and lived there, too, but decided against permanent residence. "You’re cut off from the community you’ve lived in all your life," she said.

Efraim’s scooter allows him a measure of independence, at least during warm days, and he takes full advantage of the shiny red Celebrity with its cushioned seat when he feels well. "I can go around town on my scooter," he said. "There aren’t many needs I have for that." He paused and grinned before saying, "If I don’t get stalled."

He continued, "When the weather’s nice, I usually go out for a couple hours, just to get out. When you live on a farm for 80 years, then it’s pretty hard to get closed up."

He maneuvers his scooter carefully because it is his only means of locomotion when he rides. "I can’t get stuck any place," he said. "There’s no walker with me!"

However, he has encountered individuals who prefer to see him off the city streets. He recalled a conversation with a person downtown last summer who suggested Efraim get off the street and ride on the sidewalk.

"How are you going to get on and how are going to get off?" Efraim said, shaking his head a little at the memory. "If they want me off the street, they’d have to fix lots of [sidewalks at the] ends of blocks!"

Several aspects of accessibility
have improved at school over the years

As the site for so many public events, administrators at Kenmare High School have worked over the years to make the facilities accessible to everyone in the community. Superintendent Duane Mueller listed several helpful features, such as the wide ramp in the parking loop on the school’s west side, the designated handicapped parking along the front of the building, and the automatic door at the left side of the front entrance.

He also noted the auditorium is on one level, with space available for wheelchairs, walkers or other equipment. The gymnasium is at a slightly lower level, accessible by ramps rather than stairs, with ample space for wheelchair seating at all four corners.

An ADA-approved unisex bathroom was also built in recent years in the commons area, next to the concession stand.

The new football field is generally considered accessible, with designated handicapped parking close enough for spectators to watch games from their cars. However, the cement pad under the bleachers does not have enough extra space to easily park wheelchairs for those fans who want a closer view. The bathrooms built next to the concession area there are large enough to accommodate wheelchairs, but head custodian Jerry Mickelsen mentioned a short concrete lip from the sidewalk to the door frame could cause difficulties. He also said he had not yet installed rails in those bathrooms.

Mueller did express a concern about handicapped accessibility at Kenmare Elementary School. "It’s all on one level, but there is no ADA-approved bathroom and no automatic door," he said. "We’ll have to have the [school board] Building Committee look into it."