Paul Snyder, 1960
Canoeing and kayaking I love wilderness canoe camping in the Boundary Waters and Quetico Park.
I had an 18’ Kevlar Sea kayak with rudder and compass along with a rudder 
and compass as well as an 18’ semi-racing hull canoe. I took ocean kayaking lessons off the coast of northern California as well. Jan and I went through the Grand Canyon on a raft, too.
I went to the Lake Garnett Grand Prix in Kansas, where the national teams of Shelby Cobras and Corvettes first met each other. I favored the Cobras, though a little British car beat them all. I asked what it was, and they said it was a Lotus Super 7. I wanted one! It turned out that they had small footwell space, and my feet wouldn’t fit. A guy in Texas worked for them and felt he could design a better one with more driver space and many upgrades.
I bought a kit and built my own without instructions, though I live where the Indy 500 is, and the local teams helped me build it every step of the way.
One year, I won the Indiana SCCA Solo division, and my co-driver won for the ladies in another year. Not being a skilled driver, I had a very talented driver show me how my Lotus could perform in good hands on a road course. We started at the back, and he started passing the other cars, which included two Ferraris, two Corvettes, one Lamborghini, two Shelby Cobras, and two turbo Porsches. That put us behind the lead car, a highly modified Viper. He said that the s-turns would be hard for him with that heavy V-10 block, so we dropped back 150 yards and went through full speed to pass him coming out of the last turn. In the pit area, he came over and asked, “How many cylinders under the hood?” I held up four fingers and he said, “No way!” Then I mentioned that it was pounds per horsepower, not cylinder count that mattered.
Now, I volunteer with a faith-based 501C3 that builds wheelchair ramps for mobility-impaired people who cannot afford to buy ramps. Since 2003 we have built 3,000 ramps in Indiana without charging a penny for any of them. We raise the money with the belief that all individuals with disabilities must be able to leave their houses in an emergency, as well as when they need to shop or visit family. We can install one in four hours.
The Facebook site is Servants at Work, Inc. We are in the process of going nationwide as there is no government program that meets this real need.
