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Show The Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, February 12, 1984 V7 An oasis of hope for the handicapped By Pa ill Dean Los Angeles Times Writer RALNBOW ACRES, Anz L- - They V - V'Zl - Calif, is severely retarded and has cerebral palsy When his parents, Sam and Angelina Van Dvken, contacted Rainbow Acres, their son was bedridden in an institution He could not walk, talk or control his movements That was nine yars ago Now David walks, talks, does skilled work (metal bending and w elding) and is one of the best horsemen on the ranch, Showers said "And he plays basketball. The Offerings Showers did not set out to achieve such results Rainbow Acres was never established as a rehabilitation facility Patience, love, the learning of crafts and permanent sanctuary were to be the only offerings The ranchers improved anyway Looking back, Showers will even speak with gratitude for the 1973 loss of his hands The accident gave me every chance in the world to go ahead, not fall behind, he believes To become handicapped can be a great honor, a great thrust in your life Anyone who becomes handicapped, then goes around and says Woe is me is a fool With hands, he continued, he would never have fully understood the helplessness felt by the mentally So God didnt let me retarded down, goes Showers favorite expression He just gave me a bright new angle He brushed a 7.200-vopower line (more than triple the initial jolt of an electric chair) and was welded to an overhead wire for two minutes That may not be everybody's idea of ; I --- - came here as adult prisoners of mental retard! tion and public ignorance. Yet those one? confined m California, discarded in Texas and trapped by stigma in Arizona have learned to laugh, feel freedom, communicate emotions and trust ius. The unemployable are employed and at jobs for the These handicapped are declining government payments to the disabled because now they have wages and bank accounts. This is no state institution, no e .75 rif ' 7 S -- 4r- ; r h able-bodie- d. pn-vat- board-and-car- e dumping ground . . but a community of lifetime homes for 60 retarded adults, a full if scattered township with population, purpose and industries. Cattle. Dairy produce. Soon, work will start on a service station, restaurant, motel and rest home. And theres another wonder here The Rev. Ralph Showers, 47, a maverick American Baptist minister, lost his hands to electrical burns while building this place. Show No Pain But three months after surgical amputation he was hammering lumber and loading trucks with his hooks. Damn the bleeding stumps. Devout dreamers show no pain. Their handicaps become inspirations and vehicles for greater understanding. Which is precisely how Showers transformed Rainbow Acres Ranch from an outline on a high desert hill into Rainbow Acres, where, soon, there may be more money than . v t-- r, . 4 freedom, communicate emotions, trust love. Ranch is home to the abandoned. At Rainbow Acres in Arizona, adult men- tally retarded have learned to laugh, feel dling down payment on 10 acres of rimrock country in the Verde Valley, 90 miles north of Phoenix No trees. No power. But the site and its concept had Showers. Hes cussed Here is an ego that could double the strut of six men. Even his handicap is a joke Happy Hooker says the sign on his desk. And propelled by Showers, there is now permanent housing and fixed hopes. offices Theres a recreation hall with pool, workshops, staff quarters, greenhouse, horses, corrals, land flattened and cleared for a rodeo What hopes have there ever been for the retarded beyond the age of 18? They can stay home, Showers said. "They can be put in an institution. There are boarding homes. They can try living in society. Or theres ; ground. It is, Showers said, the facilitys first stop and currently his grade school for 38 retarded adults. us. Were the fifth option. Here at Rainbow Acres, mentally retarded adults can live, they can grow, they can get educated, they can work, they can earn money, they can fly in airplanes and go to Hawaii for vacations . . Developing for 10 Years Rainbow Acres has been developing for 10 years. Its only asset then mobile home. It was a double-wid- e took a dozen small loans with promises as collateral to make the pid- - Abandoned Dairy Farm Sunburst Farms is eight miles north Showers, supervisors and ranchers have rebuilt and are buying this abandoned dairy farm. It is 28 acres where 16 retarded workers tend goats for milk and chickens for eggs. Ducks and turkeys are raised for eating Showers calls Sunburst his high school. And college is Starlite Cattle Co. tained that prohibition Then, Davis, overhearing a ranch need, broke into a workshop . . . and silently rebuilt a lawn mower from junked automobile parts He was proving that he really could do something. Showers said. Nobody ever thought to give him the opportunity. Its residents live without supervision and labor beneath casual guidance m this rich, irrigated, 1,000-acr- e spread The first contingent of 15 cowhands, all retarded, is at the ranch to begin the work of fixing bams and pens, renovating accommodations, raising cattle and pigs for slaughter and growing feed and seed, alfalfa, corn, wheat and oats "The written, goal of Rainbow Acres is to be with enough money to pay our (staff and retarded ranchers) salaries, fees (of individual ranchers) and all our needs, Showers said It will be done without federal or state subsidies Showers has always insisted that these represent government restrictions and interference We want our ranchers to be free of government, free of family, free of charity. Talking About Life Yet all this is talk of money and meat, facilities and furniture Showers prefers other advances. When we talk of achievement at Rainbow Acres, were talking about life, he said. At no point in his life had Bob Davis, 34, New York, been allowed to handle tools Rainbow Acres main David Van Dyken, 36, of accident produced a $350 000 settlement from the power company It was poured into the ranch Another $100,000 in private donations followed media stories about the minister who wouldnt quit No Huge Secrets There are no huge secrets to Rainbow Acres, just quiet realizations That when the retarded are together, their discomfort at being different is lessened . That personal achievement within a community produces a sense of belonging And that adds up to dignity . STOFFIE ELIZABETKand JAN COPINGA ANNIVERSARY SOtti Stotfie Eltubetti Birza and Jan Hendrik Copn-9- a I9J are celebrating their nwned GokJen Weocfeno m the New lands and came to Salt Lake C tty I9S3 October with their Stottte children volunteers one or two days a week at LD$ Hospital knits and does creative needte work pfc oome service worn n &Vv. the LDS Church Jan eniovs oar oen me and eit rv Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary Clark and Norma E. Elmer J. lt The children of J Clark and Norma E Elmer proudly announce the S0h Wedding Anniversary of their parents invite and friends and relatives to an Open House in thetr Yonor, Monday a godsend But Showers sees it this wav His Ripon, ), anniversary today They lived Friday from 5 3 IVki 20 QO 00PM vercrest PM to at Sit Recep)3tn tion Center East at mo Professional Women & Home South, Utah Sewers YOU DESERVE TO LOOK YOUR BEST Qn.iihercens 30 Designer Fashions and Designer Patterns by Sandy No gifts 7 YEARS EXPERIENCE KS-- DUMOSDSPEOAUSTi m Shirley (Rhodes) Smithers GIA?BOBMcKAYi Custom fitting of basic pattern For your use as a home sewer For our use in designing for you Professional Designer will be in your area week of Feb. 19th. limited numbers By appointment only or 465-- 9 100 Call iviTn Introducing The Price Is Right NOW!!! 19S4 EVENT MMESi SMJS WHITE SPIN-A-DIA- L i iO Fantastic Coupon Savings JpiBiu MicroThermal & Micro-Convecti- U COUPON $100 I Thermador and aste King disposers feature Dowerful 1 2 or 3 4 hp motors iam resistan design and high efficiency undercutter blades Plus 'uli sound insolation and quick mount easy installation Selected mod i. f a'ure 5 v at - warranty Oven The ultimate cooKing system Coo 6 wav and Probe Boil Microwave Microwave bane Microwave hour and 40 Fully self cleaning too Coo a 20 lb turkey ir minutes' Lower oven in ful size seH cleaning witf delay start Ovens Ge Microwave sfw?ed Convection baking or roasting and a Combmattor lot the bet' o' both Tou'T Control provides 4 command memory with 10 microwave power levels L jwer over ts self cleaning with 7 mp Matic probe Set Delay Start uf to 12 hours ahead MicroThermal Bake Roast Self-Cleani- wee Ovens ng j simple 1) Come in and make your best deal 2 Send Thermador Waste King your coupon receipt and claim form Tli j iaidb coupon ii COUPON $10 $12 Model THD800 Thermador Mode Mod. 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