Mike Harpool Of Delmar Wins A Tough Fight

Not that long ago I wrote an article about a young man from Delmar who is bound to a wheel chair having to fight a tough battle taking his three young children to and from Delmar Elementary.

Now just imagine being permanently bound to a wheel chair for starters. Then imagine having three young children living 1/2 mile from their school and having to take them back and forth every day, yet the sidewalks don't have handicap ramps. Oh, it gets worse. Now go back to this past winter and the snow storms we had. Sidewalks weren't cleared so Mike had to travel down the middle of the road and trust me Folks, both sides of the road are jammed packed with vehicles, making it impossible for two way traffic, let alone one way to boot.

Then, (as pictured above) there was only one handicap ramp directly in front of the school and trust me, each and every day someone would park right in front of that ramp making it impossible for Mike to utilize it. Mind you, Mike would have to again travel down the middle of a very busy street in order to get to that ramp.

Learning of this problem, I contacted County Executive Rick Pollitt and asked if there was any way he could help. Rick immediately replied, no problem at all Joe. I'll get Mike an exemption and have a Bus take his children to and from school every day. Well, that wouldn't work simply because Mike truly enjoys getting out twice a day to take his children to and from school.

I then contacted Carl Anderton, one of the Delmar Town Council Members. Carl immediately got the ball rolling and made some phone calls. He called me back within a half hour and said no matter what the deal is, whether the BOE paid for it or the Town of Delmar, new ramps would be installed immediately and they'll settle the cost at a later point.

Low and behold, the very next trip I made to Delmar Elementary they had already torn apart the sidewalks where Mike has to travel and they immediately installed handicap ramps.

On Friday I stopped by the school and the next thing I knew, Fernando Guerrero was there to see his Niece in a talent show. I shared the story with Fernando and he said, Is Mike Here? I walked him over to Mike, (hence the photo above) and Fernando spent some quality time with Mike and his children.

I was then informed by the Principal that they are now working on an emergency plan to widen the road to make things much safer than they currently are. It's simply amazing what a little research can do and my hat is tipped to Rick Pollitt, Carl Anderton and the Staff at Delmar Elementary.