A Magic Halloween

By DEVIN WEEKS

Staff Writer

Wheelchairs are more than just mobility aids.

They can be dragons, fire trucks, swans, spaceships.

A wheelchair can be anything a child can imagine through the creativity and dedication of Magic Wheelchair, an organization committed to giving wheelchair-bound kiddos the costume experience of a lifetime.

"There are so many reasons to have that happen," said Gizmo-CDA co-founder Barb Mueller. "One, for the inclusiveness of that child in his surroundings every day, but also for the understanding of people who do not have disabilities to interact with people with disabilities. The people who are not disabled are able to see the power that the person with disabilities has."

Gizmo, North Idaho's makerspace, is working with the Oregon-based Magic Wheelchair to give a North Idaho youth this special opportunity.

"We would love to have people contact us as soon as possible. We'd like to be able to do one for Halloween," Mueller said. "Halloween is coming and we have a lot of builders who could do something really phenomenal."

Mueller met Magic Wheelchair co-founder Ryan Weimer at a recent makerspace conference in Santa Fe and they concluded the Inland Northwest has a need for something like this.

"There was nothing around here," Mueller said. "What we need to do is get a database of kids who might be able to have their wheelchair occasionally be something else for parades, Halloweens, special events."

Weimer and his wife, Lana, have five children, three of whom were born with spinal muscular atrophy and will be in wheelchairs their whole lives. The couple wanted to do something special for their first child one Halloween and turned his wheelchair into a pirate ship.

"Our mission really is to provide every kid in a wheelchair with an epic Halloween costume for their chairs," Ryan said in an intro video on www.magicwheelchair.org.

"It becomes more than just a chair, it’s more than them getting around," he said. "It's something way cooler."

Kids between 5 and 17 who primarily use a wheelchair to get around are welcome to apply and share the things they like and ideas they may have for an epic costume.

The projects are done with the help of volunteers, who create a local build team. The team selects the lucky youth, the child selects the theme and the carpenters, engineers and tinkers get to work.

The costumes are built around the chairs and are removable. They're created at no cost to the family. The only thing the family needs to supply is the wheelchair.

"I just really believe there is talent in our community that can be used in a purposeful way, and create great joy," Mueller said. "We have amazing designers and tools here to be able to do that."

Those interested are encouraged to contact Mueller and Gizmo at 208-929-4029 or info@gizmo-cda.org.