DELIVERING NEWS TO MID-COLUMBIA SENIORS SINCE 1982
JULY 2023
Vol. 11 | Issue 7
Tri-City inventor builds solar-powered wheelchair By Laura Kostad
Courtesy of the East Oregonian
A Tri-City inventor has patented the first commercially sold, solar-powered wheelchair, enabling those who use them to get around in comfort while sheltered from the sun and elements. Aptly named The Liberator, Kurt Schneider of Kennewick, owner of Solar Mobility LLC, and his team build the cutting-edge chairs in his Richland machine shop using materials primarily made in the United States. Those with a prescription for a group 2 mobility device may qualify for 100% coverage of The Liberator through Medicare and Medicaid or their private insurance. This also goes for veterans receiving benefits from Veterans Affairs. The chair retails for $10,500 without insurance. There are four categories of motorized wheelchairs based on weight capacity, speed, range and terrain handling, with group 1 being the most basic.
Photo by Laura Kostad Kurt Schneider of Kennewick sits in his invention, The Liberator, a commercially sold, solar-powered wheelchair. Those with a prescription for a group 2 mobility device may qualify for 100% coverage through Medicare and Medicaid or their private insurance.
As a Navy medical corps veteran who broke his back multiple times, Schneider saw a need for a device to better serve those who use motorized
wheelchairs.
Problem sparks invention
struck him one day in 2009 while running a food truck he owned in Richland that served up fish and chips. A customer using an electric wheelchair made the trek to get a meal, and, upon seeing him, Schneider immediately became concerned. The wheelchair’s batteries were nearly drained, and its operator “looked like a lobster,” bright red with a sunburn from the journey. Not long after, “a friend of mine at the time was an electrician and he had conduit, so we made the first primitive one,” Schneider recalled. They first developed what’s called the Solar Companion, a bright yellow high-visibility framework that supports a 65-watt, 24-volt solar panel and doubles as a shelter from the elements. The Solar Companion can be purchased independently and retrofitted to most group 2 chairs and scooters. It collapses by pulling two pins and continues to charge while collapsed and in ambient, indirect lighting conditions. uSOLAR MOBILITY, Page 10
Schneider said the idea for the chair
One-of-a-kind auction featured Richland couple’s unique treasures By Sara Schilling sara@tcjournal.biz
Terry Maurer has been in the antique appraisal business for years, and yet he was still astounded by the wooden apothecary cabinet that recently was up for auction in Richland. It was from Britain circa 1870, designed for compounding medicine in the field. “When it’s closed, it looks like a wooden box. When it’s open, it looks like a miniature pharmacy. A doctor could put compounds together and make pills, weigh the ingredients, and the ingredients are in bottles.
It’s quite unusual,” said Maurer, who runs Maurer Antique Appraisals with his wife, Kathy. The apothecary cabinet was one of hundreds of unique pieces included in the auction, along with furniture, artwork, Persian rugs, porcelain and sterling, and other special and rare finds. The items were part of a sizeable collection belonging to Dr. Louis and Jenepher Field. Macon Brothers Auctioneers in Walla Walla ran the auction, which closed on June 19. Nearly all of the roughly 550 indi-
vidual items and “lots,” or groups of items, sold during the auction, Maurer said. The apothecary cabinet went to a buyer in Virginia. The item fetching the highest price– a mid-century modern Heron chair and ottoman from a Japanese designer and manufacturer – went to a Tri-Cities couple. It sold for $1,500, plus a buyer’s premium and fees. It’s believed the Fields originally bought it in the Tri-Cities in the 1960s. Louis Field was a well-known orthopedic surgeon in the Tri-Cities. He grew up on a farm in Kansas during the Depression and joined the Army
after high school. Using the GI Bill, he attended the University of Kansas and the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He met his wife, Jenepher, while in New Zealand for a research fellowship. She was born in the South Pacific nation, to English parents. Her mother and father loved antiques, and many of the items in Louis and Jenepher’s collection came from them. Along with the apothecary cabinet, other standout items included a Welsh oak dresser from 1800; EnguANTIQUE AUCTION, Page 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Jehovah’s Witnesses return to Kennewick for annual convention
Page 2
MONTHLY QUIZ
Sentinel’s stint as a Hanford newspaper lasted less than 2 years
Page 11
Before it became Lampson Stadium, serving as a home sports venue for Kennewick and Kamiakin high schools, what was its name? ANSWER, PAGE 9
Senior Times 8524 W. Gage Blvd., #A1-300 Kennewick, WA 99336
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PASCO, WA PERMIT NO. 8778