My daughter, Michelle Colvard, is going to be on the Kiwanis float in the Rose Bowl Parade, as Ms. Wheelchair America. She and her husband, Brian, are both MINI owners--she drives a LY Cooper convertible, and hubby has a blue Checkmate Edition S. Be sure to watch for her!

Here's her pic:

 

We'll be watching the parade from the grandstands, just after the corner, we'll watch out for her.

 

Yeah! there will also be a MINI owner in attendance at Parade and Rose Bowl game Yeah!!

Go Trojans plow the nitany cats
Go Trojans pound the nitany cats tame

 

Say hi for me, will ya?

 

That's awesome! Found a link to the Ms. Wheelchair America site with article about Michelle in her new role. http://www.mswheelchairamerica.org/n...helle-colvard/

 

Awesome deb! Ill be sure to watch!

 

I do, but only when she's autocrossing. She has a helmet on, so you can't see her face. (Thanks for a great photo suggestion!) Here are a couple of pics:

 

We should see if there is anything we, as NAM members and MINI owners can do to help her and/or her cause. If we all put up a couple of dollars, I'm sure Michelle would appreciate it and find a good place to use it. I'm sure she would get a grin out of fellow MINI enthusiasts stepping up to the plate.

 

Yes, she really would appreciate it! Momentum MINI in Houston donated $500 to help with travel expenses when she went to Washington, D.C., and Houston MINI Motoring Society (HMMS) matched it. (Just a couple of "shout-outs" to thank them.) As a representative of the organization, and disabled people everywhere, she travels all over to make appearances, so there are always those expenses, which are partially reimbursed by the organization. The state winners who came to D.C. were all very successful women, and totally dispel the notion that those who use a wheelchair are helpless, dumb, or whatever. If you read the website, you'll see what she has already accomplished.

Not that I'm bragging about her, of course.

 

That is awesome!!! We'll also be watching for her...

Donna

 

That's great! We'll we watching for her. She has great taste in MINIs (can you guess which MINI I drive?)

 

Very cool! Congratulations to her (and you)!

 

Yup, and I was absolutely (British Racing) Green with envy when she drove it up to show us! After all, I was the one who wanted a MINI first, when they were still Minis, and she wasn't even dreamed of.

Incidentally, she has about the best screen name I've ever seen on the HMMS and MetroplexMINI boards: Topless Blonde. Just remember, she drives a convertible...and it's yellow. Anything else is pure conjecture!

Word is it's float #47 (Kiwanis), and she and her hubby will be on it...

 

We forgot which float she was going to be on (should have taken notes), so no close up, but this is her and the float.

 

Cool! Thanks SO MUCH for the picture--we couldn't see her in the shadows on ABC, and NBC didn't cover it all, with all their commercial cutaways. At least now I have something to send to the grandfolks!

 

Michelle is back in Houston, and the photo was waiting for her in her inbox (as well as the inbox of just about everyone on the planet!). She says, "Thanks for sending the picture - can you please thank whoever took this for me as well? Great shot!"

 

I'm glad she likes it, I just wish I'd remembered which float it was, then I would have taken a few more.

I have lots of other photos, a few good ones here: http://homepage.mac.com/barryt/PhotoAlbum175.html

(A few means 38 in this case, its difficult to cut it down that much.)

 

Super--how in the world did you get them? Are/were you a reporter?

 

The guy who runs the hotel suggested the idea of walking to the parade up Orange Grove Blvd, you get to see most of the floats close up that way. The floats are all lined up and anyone can walk by. The light's a bit iffy, we started out at 6:30, before dawn, they still had the flood lights on. The rest were just taken from the stands like everyone else

 

NAM was there too:



(With a little help from Photoshop.)

 

Hmmm. When she was a kid, she really liked Big Bird. Was that a omen?

 

Here's another parade picture:



Also, my MINI and hers...



(Can anyone out there solve a great mystery of life--why can I post a big picture of the float, but only a little one of the two cars? Both were loaded at the same size, and both were pulled up from Photobucket. I've had this problem before.)

 

the link on your post says http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s281/daffodildeb/TwofavoriteMINIs-1.jpg, the large one in your photobucket page is http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s281/daffodildeb/2MINIs.jpg

 

I tried that--it's still posting as a small image. Oh well, the important thing was Michelle's picture.

 

Deb,

Seeing Michelle in the parade and representing persons with disabilities and driving a MINI and holding the title of Ms. Wheelchair America is all so cool. You must be one pround Mom! I became even more intrigured when you posted the picture of her in her MINI running autocross! Now that has to be another whole story in itself. I'm so impressed. You have to get that girl to log on to NAM so we can all say Hi and find out more about her MINI experiences. Does she have any modifications for hand controls on her car?