SARANAC LAKE — “Would you like a free ride to the Ice Palace?” That’s the question DJ Fowler is asking Saranac Lakers who might need a lift to see the towering staple of Winter Carnival in early February.
People with disabilities and chronic conditions who live in Saranac Lake will be able to get a ride to the Ice Palace on Feb. 6. If someone uses a walker, wheelchair or cane to get around, or just can’t make the long walk along the Lake Flower shoreline, this might be the best way for them to get to the Ice Palace.
“I’m really trying to focus on diversity and inclusion,” Fowler said. “Our town is so difficult for people with mobility and handicaps. Even though they do a good job with the streets and everything, it’s still very, very hard to navigate for people.”
And the Ice Palace site is especially hard to walk to, she said.
“That sidewalk is long,” Fowler said of River Street. “And on the weekends, especially, you can’t park there.”
Fowler said she starting thinking about this last year, when her mother, who is legally blind, came to town for Winter Carnival for the first time.
“She came for the Ice Palace and it was really hard for her to get in there,” Fowler said. “It was really a struggle.”
It became a personal thing for her, but she knows there is a need in the area.
“I do feel like people with chronic conditions and disabilities are kind of invisible, especially in our town when everything is going on with Carnival,” Fowler said. “You don’t see them that much because the winters are so difficult. … I think people kind of get forgotten, especially in the winter.”
Fowler said people see pictures of others having fun at the Palace, and many can see the Palace from the high-rise apartment buildings the bus will be stopping at. But they might not always have the ability to get there to see it themselves.
“It’s hard to get in there,” Fowler said.
Reserve a seat
To get a seat on the bus, contact Fowler at 518-524-0882 or at wintercarnivalfreerides@gmail.com.
She’s planning to do the ride on the morning of Feb. 6, a Tuesday. There will be four pick-up places: the Saranac Lake Adult Center on Broadway, the Lake Flower Apartments run by the Harrietstown Housing Authority on Kiwassa Road, the Adirondack Apartments on Lake Street and the DeChantal Apartments on Church Street.
The bus holds 18 people. Fowler will be one of the riders. The bus is handicap accessible with a lift, and the ticket is for a round-trip. Fowler said she hopes to have extra volunteers at the Ice Palace on that day to help people walk around, as well as coffee and donuts in the accessible History Hut.
Fowler said signups have been slow so far, but she imagines once construction starts on the palace later this month, and people start seeing it and thinking about it, she’ll have more calls.
If there is a large enough response, she said they could try to add a second day on Thursday, Feb. 8.
Breaking the transportation barrier
The Winter Carnival Committee does not sponsor transportation because of insurance reasons, Fowler said, but she was able to organize this through other groups.
“Lindy (Ellis) and Rich (Shapiro) have generously offered to pay for the bus,” Fowler said. Ellis is a Franklin County Legislator and Shapiro is a village trustee.
Their donation is going through sponsor organizations — the Tri-Lakes Center for Independent Living and Franklin County Public Health. The bus will be a Franklin County Public Transportation bus, which was organized by Transportation Coordinator Tonya Allen.
TLCIL Executive Director Bill Miller said transportation is one of the biggest barriers to independent living and people’s ability to have access to recreation in the Adirondacks.
“So whenever someone comes along and builds a bridge like this, we’re incredibly grateful,” Miller said.
He believes this sort of transportation for events can and should be replicated elsewhere.
Miller mentioned the website accessibleadirondacktourism.org, which is run by Nick Friedman and lists many businesses in the area, ranking the accessibility of each. It is a resource for people to track where in town is accessible for them to go.
Miller said around 13% of Franklin County residents and roughly 12% of Essex County residents declared themselves as “disabled” in the latest 2020 census. But he suspects the number is higher, since he personally knows some elderly people who would never identify that way, but do have chronic conditions which hinder their mobility.
Shapiro said if this transportation service is well-used, it gives them the data to fight for more types of event rides.
Ellis said a third of people have some sort of disability at some point in their lives — temporary or permanent.
When Fowler’s mother, Marilyn Delorio, 89, came to Winter Carnival last year, she became the oldest participant in the history of the women’s fry pan toss, winning her 70-plus age bracket with an 11-foot throw. Fowler said she got a medal and wore it all day long.
The theme for the 2024 Winter Carnival is “Creepy Carnival.” Carnival returns Feb. 2 to 11.