Kiwanis gifts bike to Emory
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While trying out her new adaptive bicycle, Emory Preston, 7, playfully interacts with her twin sister, Harper. The bike was provided by Farragut Kiwanis Club and presented at Hurricane Bike Shop in West End Center. The girls’ father, Bob Preston, is directly behind them, along with Kiwanis Club members Fred and Rose Montgomery and Dan Johnson, left, and employee Rease Sullivan, right. - Michelle Hollenhead
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Emory Preston, 7, received a specially-adapted bicycle from Farragut Kiwanis Club June 17 at Hurricane Bike Shop in West End Center. Pictured with Emory are, from left, Kiwanis Club members Rose and Fred Montgomery; Emory’s parents, Melanie and Bob Preston, and her twin sister, Harper; Kiwanis Club member Dan Johnson (behind the Prestons); Emory’s physical therapy instructor Amy Shugart; Hurricane Bike technician David Farris; Kiwanis Club president Louise Coulter; Hurricane Bike rider representative Rease Sullivan; Hurricane Bike owner Andrew Ingram; and David Coulter, PR and membership chair for Farragut Kiwanis. - Michelle Hollenhead
A special girl has better mobility thanks to Farragut Kiwanis Club.
Club members presented 7-year-old Emory Preston with an Amtryke adaptive bicycle June 17 at Hurricane Bike Shop in West End Center, where owner Andrew Ingram and one of his technicians, David Farris, had put together the bicycle.
Emory, who was born with spina bifida, was nominated by her physical therapist, Amy Shugart, for the specialized cycle.
Kiwanis Club president Louise Coulter and her husband, David Coulter, who is past governor of the Kentucky Tennessee District and current PR chair and Membership chair of the Kiwanis Club of Farragut, personally donated $300 toward the effort while the club contributed $250.
“The Kiwanis Clubs in the Kentucky Tennessee District have a project supporting AMBUCS, which makes and gives away therapeutic bicycles,” David Coulter said. “We accept applications from therapists to provide an adaptive Amtryke for those who benefit.
“The Kiwanis Clubs raise money through fundraisers in their local communities,” he added. “In our division, clubs who are participating in this project include Farragut. Sevierville, which has donated six, Alcoa and Maryville.”
Shugart, who owns and operates Thera Kids and has worked with Emory since she was 6 months old, attended the June 17 presentation.
“I had a small standard toddler tricycle that I had added foot pedal attachments to that Emory was able to ride, but she outgrew it,” Shugart said. “She kept asking to ride it, but I didn’t have an adapted trike in her size. They are expensive. I thought of the Kiwanis Club — I have worked with the one in Tellico Village in the past; they said the club in Farragut wanted to start helping with this program.”
“Tellico Village Kiwanis brought the proposal to our club since the child lived
in the Knoxville area,” David Coulter said. “The Kiwanis Club of Farragut accepted and worked with (Shugart) to complete the necessary application process to be presented to the AMBUCS Chapter in Grand Rapids, Michigan.”
“When I told Emory I was working on getting a trike she could use and have for her own, she would ask me about it every week — she was so excited,” Shugart said.
“This program is a blessing for the kids and families.”
“Amy was the one who came to us about the possibility of the bicycle, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity,” said Emory’s mother, Melanie Preston.
Melanie, her husband, Bob Preston, and Emory’s twin sister, Harper, were present to cheer on Emory as she received her new mode of transportation, which actually is a loaner until her brand new bicycle is manufactured.
While Emory was at first shy about the donation and the excited crowd who gathered to see her receive the new bicycle, her mother said in a follow up interview, “she loves the bicycle — it gives her an opportunity to ride around the driveway with her siblings on their bikes. We haven’t been home much since she got it, but we are looking forward to using it a lot. ....”
Kiwanis Club of Farragut meets twice a month — on the first Thursday of the month for its social, and the third Wednesday of each month for its noon meeting in West Shrine Club, 916 Olive Road.
Anyone interested in membership may contact David Coulter at 865-202-9383 or davidcoulter46@gmail.com. You also can visit www.kiwanis.org.
