Judy Jensen loves the outdoors. Some of her favorite locations in the Greenville area are Paris Mountain State Park, Cleveland Park and Lake Conestee Nature Park.

“My favorite time of the year to visit Lake Conestee is in June,” Jensen said. “That’s when all those pretty little yellow flowers are out.”

She doesn’t allow obstacles to get in the way of her outdoors adventures. And Jensen doesn’t consider the fact that she had polio as a child and has been in a wheelchair nearly all of her life as an obstacle.

Her love of life, the outdoor life, leads her to the southern end of the Swamp Rabbit Trail quite often. She parks at the Spanco trailhead near the Lake Conestee dam and rides the paved trail in her electric wheelchair to see wildlife drawn to the lake.

During her forays, she’d noticed there were few benches along that section of the trail. She visited Dave Hargett, executive director of the Conestee Foundation, and donated a bench from herself and one from her sister in California in honor of their father for Father’s Day in 2012.

Hargett thanked her and told her benches cost $100 each, but that they’re not installed until a charitable group can build and permanently install them.

Jensen somehow talked Hargett into helping her hunt for a place for the benches. They met on a cold, rainy day this spring.

“We’re out there and she’s under an umbrella, but I’m getting soaked,” Hargett said. The two finally found a location Jensen liked.

“She said, now get on your knees and see what I can see,” he said. “That was humbling to me. It touched me.”

He didn’t say a thing. But he knew then that two benches were not enough.

With the help of a grant from the GE Foundation and volunteer efforts of GE employees on HOG (Hands on Greenville) Day, a wheelchair-accessible observation deck and an elevated wooden walkway were built overlooking the South Bay of Lake Conestee.

Jensen’s bench and her sister’s were built there, too.

The location offers expansive views of the lake and lots of wildlife. It’s easily accessible, being just about 600 feet from the Spanco trailhead.

A simple request for a couple of benches led to much, much more. Hargett has a simple reason: “It dawned on me, that of all the facilities we build, how few there are for the handicapped.”

Jensen loves the outdoors. And she doesn’t see why other handicapped people can’t get out like she does. Maybe now they will.

“He went above and beyond,” she said. “I just said ‘Wow.’ This is really great.”

Source: Greenville Online

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