The Traveling Wheelchair

175 School St
Taunton, MA 02780
Phone: (508) 823-4954

Last night Josh, my roommate, my mom, friends and I attended ‘A Summer Celebration’ with our wonderful and supportive State Senator Marc Pacheco. The event was held at The Portuguese American Civic Club (PAAC) in Taunton. I’ve been to the PAAC for other events but never to do a wheelchair accessibility review so we did one last night. The Invitation said the Summer Celebration was going to be ‘Meat on a stick’ and there would be Special Guest. I’ve never been to a ‘Meat on a stick’ so I was looking forward to seeing what it was all about and who would be the Special Guest.

The event last night was held outside but my friends and I decided to do a wheelchair accessibility review of both the inside and outside because many functions are held inside on the second level. 

There are handicap parking spaces in the parking lot in the rear of the PAAC. The main entry door has steps leading to it but there is a wheelchair accessible ramp at the side entry. The ramp is very old and rickety and has a very steep slope that my friends told me was difficult to push my wheelchair up. My Quantum 600 Power Chair would have no problems getting up this ramp but my Power Chair died last week and I am awaiting a new Power Chair sometime soon I hope.

Once up the ramp you will find that the entry door is not automatic and will need some help opening the door as well as getting your wheelchair over the slight lip at the threshold. Once inside you will find the function hall very spacious and easy to maneuver your wheelchair around.

The restroom is kind of small for my wheelchair and I found it difficult to fit my wheelchair inside. It does have the ADA required safety grab bars. The sink is not very wheelchair accessible for it is too high and too small and the pipes under the sink are exposed and not covered as is now ADA required.

After reviewing the inside function hall we headed to the Summer Celebration outside. My friends and I said hi to State Senator Marc Pacheco and Ric took a picture of Josh, my roommate and I with Senator Pacheco. I feel very fortunate to have such a great State Senator for he has always been very supportive of the rights for the disabled.

There was a long narrow barbecue pit with wood inside on fire. We were told that we would be given a container with raw meat and would put the meat on a long metal skewer and cook it on the fire in the pit! Now I know what ‘Meat on a stick’ is. The pit is a good height for a person in a wheelchair to hold the skewer over but I must warn you that it gets very HOT when you are close to this pit! Kellie, my friend did most of our cooking!

Outside there are many picnic tables for guests to sit at but none are wheelchair accessible for the benches don’t pull out and the end of the picnic table doesn’t extend far enough out to fit a person in a wheelchair comfortably at the table. We ate our ‘Meat on a stick’ and enjoyed it for it was very tasty.

All the folks at this Summer Celebration were very nice and cordial. A few nice men running for office this election season came by to speak with my friends and I and they were exceptionally kind. We met John O’Neil and John De Jesus who are campaigning to become the next Register of Probate Court and both were very nice. We also met Gregory DeMelo and Paul Kitchen who are campaigning to become the next Bristol County Commissioner and I found them both to be very nice too.

Senator Marc Pacheco then got up to speak and told us all about the many new great things coming to our area such as a new Science Building at Bridgewater State and about plans for the Polly Dever land. Senator Pacheco then introduced his Special Guest, Jon “Bowzer” Bauman, a member of the band Sha Na Na. Jon is good friend of Senator Pacheco. I got to meet him last night and he is very kind. He is playing in Mashpee this upcoming week. We said our goodbyes and headed back home and all enjoyed the evening.

I give Portuguese American Civic Club ONE STAR for wheelchair accessibility. They would need to rebuild the old rickety wheelchair accessible ramp and make less of slope on the ramp leading to the entry door, install an automatic door at the top of the ramp, remodel the restroom so a wheelchair can fit in easier, install an accessible sink with the pipes under it covered as is now ADA required and place some wheelchair accessible picnic tables outside.  As always I give State Senator Marc Pacheco FIVE STARS for he is always kind and does much to help the disabled!