A "Fun Day in the Park" will be held at the Elkin Municipal Park on Saturday, Sept. 11, as a benefit for Carolyn Oliver to help with the purchase of a tilt-in-space wheelchair.

Oliver was stricken with Polio as a child and struggled with mobility issues as she has aged.

The benefit will be held from 4-8 p.m. and will include live music by Backstreet, a band that includes Oliver's brother, The Stewarts, and Hannah Marshall.

The silent auction scheduled will include items from Elkin Jewelry, Boonville Florist Shop, Belk and many other merchants in the area. There will also be a handmade quilt, gift certificates, prints, a woman's bible, men's and women's fragrance baskets, manicures, a clock, lamp and other donated items. Hot dogs, chicken stew and an array of wonderful desserts will also be on sale.

The tilt-in-space wheelchair will allow Oliver the ability to interact with other residents and participate in daily life rather than being continually bedridden.

"The chair will allow me to stay out of bed for longer periods of time by allowing me to recline and position myself to help alleviate the constant pain in my back," Oliver said. "The disease has progressed to the point that I have to go back to bed by three in the afternoon to deal with the pain."

Oliver was diagnosed with Polio at the age of four. After the disease took away many of her motor functions, she was restricted to a wheel chair. Oliver continued to live with her parents and lead a normal life until 1990, when she was diagnosed with post polio syndrome, which took away more of her functions and began a continuing progression of the debilitating disease.

Later, when her mother was stricken with Alzheimer's Disease, the care that was needed was no longer possible at home.

"My father passed away in 1990, but mother and I continued to live at home until her diagnosis," Oliver said. "After mother's diagnosis, we moved into the nursing center together. I've lived here ever since. It's a wonderful place and I love it here."

The post polio syndrome causes a progression in the disease that is now causing Oliver continual pain. Health benefits do not cover any of the cost of the specialized chair. A newly purchased tilt-in-space chair costs approximately $15 to $18,000. A used chair, which is what her social services worker is helping to look for costs an average of $8,000.

"The entire cost has to be self-paid when you're in a skilled nursing situation and facility," Oliver said. "I really want to be able to stay active, but my disease is prohibitive to my being able to function more each day. I can't stand at all, or take care of any of my needs. I can still feed myself and try to paint. I help with passing out the mail here at the home and I can help with typing letters for the nursing staff too."

Oliver also paints. In 2000, a nurse working at the center helped Oliver to learn the Bob Ross manner of painting. Oliver has painted several paintings, a few of which she was able to sell. Two of her paintings hang on the walls of the HCMH Nursing Center.

"I really enjoy painting," she said. "It gives me a way to express myself."

Oliver leaves the center every Sunday to attend church and teach Sunday School at Fall Creek Baptist Church. She is also a member of the Red Hat Ladies organization.

"I love to go out to church and occasionally attend on trips," she said. "Being able to continue with that would be a real blessing."

Friends of Oliver decided to hold the fundraiser to help provide Oliver with the chair. A "Fun Day in the Park" was the idea of Tammy Marshall, a relative of Oliver's. All proceeds will go toward the purchase of the specialized wheelchair for Oliver.

Anyone wishing to donate an item for the auction should call Tammy Marshall at 336-679-8646.