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The Greensburg Daily News Online Edition Thursday, September 18, 2003, 1:00:17 AM A little help from their friend Josh Green Staff Writer [log in to unmask] A little elbow grease may go a long way, but a full week's worth will allow Otto Enos an easy pathway to and from his longtime home. Friends and volunteers from Greensburg United Methodist Church have constructed a 27-foot-long wheelchair ramp of sturdy pine that leads up to the backdoor of Enos' east Fourth Street home. All this -- labor, wood, screws, etc. -- free of charge. Enos was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1989 when he still worked as a window clerk at the Greensburg Post Office. He retired, after 32 years of service, in October 1990. His disease was relatively under control until four years ago, when he became mostly confined to a wheelchair. More recently, getting in and out of the house has become troublesome. Enter Pete Severin, Joe Howard and Oris Reece -- Enos' church buddies. With their circular saws, screw guns and building materials, they've built a pine pathway from the street to Enos' backdoor. "It feels terrific to see my friends out here doing this for me," said Enos. "It's a great feeling, being able to get out and say to someone, 'Hi, how are you?'" The three volunteers waived the costs of their labor and the Greensburg Area Emmaus Community has handled the more than $700 cost of building materials. Enos' wife of 48 years, Marilyn, a retired elementary school teacher, was pleasantly surprised to learn the entire financial burden of the ramp had been lifted. "We knew the labor would be donated, but we thought we'd surely pay for the lumber," said Marilyn Enos. "But, hey, you have to learn to accept as well as to give. That's kind of hard to do sometimes. "These people are great. They've really done quite a job here" even with the old porch railing in front of the ramp, so that "Otto won't take off down the thing," she said. The couple have been members of United Methodist for 20 years and have lived in Greensburg their entire lives. They are as active as ever. "We still like to eat out three times a week," said Mrs. Enos, noting that Sundays are inexorably reserved for Ponderosa. "We still take rides -- just get out and go" most often to Ohio to visit with their daughter, Beth, or to northern Illinois to see their son, Bryan. Enos can still walk with the aide of a walker. His doctor has prescribed an electric wheelchair -- which will make conquering his new ramp a breeze -- but the couple has yet to travel to Indianapolis to purchase one. For more than a decade, Enos has been carving little, inspirational crosses out of donated Black Walnut wood. Without seeing a penny's profit, he has distributed these crosses throughout the state. His craftsmanship has earned him quite a reputation. "He's made literally thousands of these crosses to just give away -- to the Emmaus Community or to complete strangers, it doesn't matter," said Mrs. Enos. "We want to keep on going as long as we can, because it's very rewarding to see the look on people's faces when Otto hands them a cross." The ramp-building volunteers have every intention of keeping the couple on the go, out on the town and meeting people. "This isn't a bad way to spend the whole day," said Severin of constructing the ramp. "If I was at home, I'd just be weed-whacking or mowing." Howard was more candid in his description of the project: "This skill level of labor don't come cheap," he said with a laugh. "I didn't know what I was getting in to with this. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat." SOURCE: The Greensburg Daily News, IN http://tinyurl.com/ns1m * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn