Annie Zanchelli beams as she looks around the apple field at Angry Orchard Cider House in Walden. Her smile is bright as she takes in the moment. On her outing to the orchard this warm autumn day, she radiates the happiness of a woman able to experience something that has eluded her for far too long. Annie and her fellow visitors listen closely to the tour guides talking about the orchard’s founding and extolling its incredible bounty of apples and cider products.
People with mobility impairments can now savor outdoor exercise, the wonders of nature, the joy of purposeless fun, and the heightened sense of community at harvest time through SOAR Experiences’ adaptive programs.
Next to Annie is Joseph “Joe” Zanchelli, Annie’s father, in a red veteran’s t-shirt. Though the ground is uneven, with clumpy grass and patches of dirt among the fruit trees, Annie and Joe are able to negotiate the surface well in the Action Trackchairs in which they ride. These mechanized wheelchairs have wide, deep tractor-like treads over their wheels which allow the Zanchellis and others to traverse terrain that presents formidable obstacles to standard wheelchairs.
Thanks to SOAR Experiences – the initials stand for Specialized Outdoor Adaptive Recreation — the Zanchellis and others with mobility impairments can enjoy outdoor outings such as hikes, orchard gatherings, and off-road adventures in the Hudson Valley and nearby region. Soaring accurately describes the joy and newfound freedom the Ellenville-based non-profit makes available.
The endeavor grew out of the businesses in which Scott Trager and his family – his wife Susan and sons Alex and Sam – were involved: an off-road driver training school and an authorized Action Trackchair dealership. What began in 2019 with a request from two paraplegic guests to devise an adaptive outdoors off-road activity has evolved into a separate entity which sets up and promotes varied outdoor gatherings as well as related education and opportunities.
The events bring together people with mobility impairments, including veterans, people who have impaired mobility due to lifelong and in some instances rare diseases, and others who have suffered due to the onset of Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or other illnesses. The events also have brought together caregivers, students in occupational therapy programs in the state, and volunteers from local and regional businesses. Each event becomes quite a community gathering.
Far greater need
As Trager knows, the organization is tapping into a far greater need. “The more we work with this demographic,” he says, “the more we feel they are underserved. What SOAR Experiences seeks to offer, foremost, is a safe and rewarding, experience that connects people with opportunities in nature — and with each other.”
Judging from the responses of those attending two events this autumn and from reviews or Instagram comments others have written in the past few years, SOAR Experiences is answering a major need. Its programs include hiking, air gun marksmanship, off-road passenger ride-alongs, and hand-control off-roading. The public hikes in 2025 have ranged in destination from Sam’s Point Preserve, Mohonk Preserve, and Green Lakes State Park to Rockefeller Preserve and Tarrywile Park.
The sense of a newly accessible world was evident in the group at the Mohonk Preserve.
“We are just so lucky to have this for David to do,” says Michelle Terwilliger-Hathaway, a caregiver of David Amther, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis four years ago. Next to Terwilliger-Hathaway, Amther is in one of the Trackchairs, answering a question about his collection of guitars. Such outdoor events permit different options instead of just going out to dinner or lunch, Terwilliger-Hathaway says.
The event exhibited the freedom of expanding the boundaries of limited mobility, as the visitors in Trackchairs explored the orchard, received a tour by guides, and gathered to taste Angry Orchard’s ciders. The participants were joined by caregivers as well as 14 volunteers, including students in Iona University’s occupational therapy program and employees of Walden Bank. Scott Trager welcomed everyone and provided directions and safety information. His son Alex helped ensure the equipment was functioning correctly and comfortable for the visitors.
“This is one of our favorite tours to do,” says Willow Hegedus, one of two Angry Orchard Cider House employees giving a tour. As the group winds through the orchard toward the cider house, Hegedus tells of Angry Orchard’s extensive history, apple growing, and its prominence in the country’s cider production.
As she went through the orchard, Annie Zanchelli explained the event’s meaning for her: “I’m trying out this [Trackchair], and seeing something like this makes me excited. I hadn’t been able to do something like this before. It’s making [the outdoors] accessible.”
Annie and her father have Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a group of inherited conditions that damages motor and sensory peripheral nerves, causing muscle weakness and shrinking, a loss of dexterity, and other impacts.
Joe served in the Marines from 1981 to 1994, when pain forced him to give up military service, he explains. While he is in pain a lot, he says, “You can’t let it stop you.”
Trager expresses a zeal for the endeavor he and his family have established and for producing programs that will make the outdoors more accessible to people with mobility disabilities. The programs not only widen their horizons, but also deliver health benefits, research has found. As Trager tells the participants at a recent hike, access to natural settings improves the physical and mental health of people with mobility impairments.
Studies show reduced inflammation, improved circulation, and decreased risks of chronic disease such as diabetes. Additional social connections and a greater sense of well-being are also among the benefits.
An adaptive sampler
As one listens to Trager share at a SOAR event, it’s evident that his love of the outdoors altered and enhanced his own life’s pathway. For years, he had a high-intensity career in the financial sector and was a team leader for market-moving information at
Bloomberg. As he relates, buying a Jeep and then going off-road driving with his family set his life path in a different direction. Trager realized he did not want to work in the financial sector.
Trager’s wife Susan found a 75-acre property in Ellenville, which they acquired in 2011. The Trager family created a place there, Northeast Off Road Training Adventures (NORA) for people to enjoy the rugged outdoor setting and receive training for off-road driving. Seven years later, they expanded to serving people of all abilities, and in 2020 became a factory-authorized Action Trackchair dealership, Starr Adventures. The company sells and services specialized wheelchairs to individuals, rehabilitation facilities, and veterans’ hospitals.
A request from two paraplegic guests from the Helen Hayes Rehabilitation Hospital sparked what has become the adaptive recreation program and eventually the non-profit organization. The two guests brought temporary hand controls, which the company outfitted into one of its rental vehicles. As Trager recalls, they had a great time and urged the owners to put together an “adaptive sampler” outdoors recreation program.
Fifteen participants from the Helen Hayes facility took part in the sampler, which became formalized as SOAR. A video of the sampler program by Richard Corbett of Wheels2Walking which shows him going over rocky, stump-filled, and muddy terrain in an Action Trackchair has over 160,000 views. They trained to drive off-road in a Jeep at the driving school in Ellenville.
“This is getting bigger”
As time went on, the driving school provided experiences to guests from rehabilitation hospitals and veterans’ organizations.
The adaptive program drew more participants and gained momentum. In late 2023, the SOAR organization became a registered state not-for-profit. The IRS has very recently approved it as a 501c3 organization, which will enhance its fundraising abilities and enable it to apply for government and private foundation grants.
“This is getting bigger,” says Trager, “and we can’t turn people away.”
On a recent crisp, cool morning under a sparkling blue sky, a group of hikers on a SOAR Experiences event in Action Trackchairs, along with accompanying caregivers and volunteers, gathered to take part in one of the organization’s six guided adaptive hikes at Mohonk Preserve. SOAR, Mohonk Preserve, and the Starr Adventures dealership partner for the hikes.
For Alan Blacher, it meant experiencing a beautiful morning at a place he has always loved. Blacher, who spent some four decades as a lighting designer for major television shows and received two Emmy Awards for his lighting direction, says he is now largely homebound after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He was at the event with his partner of 45 years, Peter Clem.
“It feels great,” Blacher says. “We love Mohonk. We needed to get some fresh air …. It feels wonderful because I can’t do what I used to do.”
Kyle Mast, another participant, is very active in community-fostering organizations such as One Rare Experience. He found out about SOAR and thought it would be a great opportunity that he just doesn’t get enough of, doing a hike at a nature preserve.
“I’ve always loved the outdoors,” Mast says, looking out to the fields along the Pin Oak Allee. To be able to do the pathway independently on the Trackchair meant a great deal to him.
A mother who identified herself as Staci T on TripAdvisor wrote in her review of a SOAR hike this month about watching her son’s ability to explore nature where he couldn’t go before. It gave him, the means to hike beyond the pavement and into the forest.
“The adventure we were able to have yesterday warmed this Mama Bear’s heart,” she wrote. Seeing the smile on my son’s face when he was able to be in an environment we’ve not really had a chance to take part in …, My son and his friends had the time of their lives!”
“The more we do these events,” Scott Trager told the group, “the more we realize we need these events.”
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