Star Tribune
Meet the St. Paul manufacturer who helps disabled golfers get on their feet and hit the links
Tim Nicholson’s family has been making stuff in St. Paul as Actus Manufacturing since 1953 — electronic signs and things that use microprocessors, mostly. But when a Florida neighbor who has MS told Nicholson he sure wished somebody could make a better way for people who cannot walk to get out on a golf course and whack some balls, he started making some calls.
VertaCat, a stand-on-command golf vehicle modeled after the ParaGolfer by Ottobock, hit the market a year ago. It is manufactured in St. Paul. Eye On St. Paul recently chatted with Nicholson over Zoom to learn more about his work to help disabled golfers rejoin the game they love. This story was edited for length.
Q: Tell me a little bit about where the idea came from.
A: Well, I have a neighbor in Fort Myers that I live behind that has MS. And when I started playing with him, he could walk and play fine. But as his MS progressed, he couldn’t walk anymore. He found a company out of Germany called Ottobock and he started using what was called a ParaGolfer. And he was looking for somebody in the U.S. to make these. I called the sales guy for the ParaGolfer and he says, “You’re an answer to my prayers. I just got notified that Ottobock is not going to make them anymore and I need somebody to make this equipment for me.”
Q: What does it do?
A: It serves multiple uses. But the first thing we decided to go after is for golfers, golfers who are challenged to walk or can’t walk at all. People that are paralyzed and have no or very limited ability to stand up. Like many people, I haven’t known many handicapped people and didn’t realize the problems they had to get out. And so, we designed this device that basically stands the person up that can’t stand on his own and allows him to play golf or shoot, go shooting or archery or go on trails. It’s really a kind of an all-terrain vehicle that allows people to stand up.
It allows somebody that loves the sport to be able to continue in the sport. The people who are sitting on their couch don’t know there’s an opportunity for them to get out and do the things they love. Now we have a product that allows them to do that and it’s very fulfilling.
Q: Tell me about your St. Paul connection.
A: My dad started a business in 1953 and made a bunch of different things. We made changeable message signs that you see on the freeways, and we made controls for construction equipment and, at one time, we were an engine distributor. Anyway, I also have a group of engineers that I said, “Hey, we need to make this device.” And we were fortunate that we were able to see what the ParaGolfer did. My partner, he was able to say, “Well, these are the things you should improve on.” And we had one out in the field in 18 months, which I think is really quick.
Q: What were the improvements?
A: Everybody wants to go a little faster. So that the big challenge was speed versus stability. And one of the other real challenges was to stand someone up without getting any relative motion from behind.
Q: What is the best round somebody has played in the VertaCat?
A: Our first guy is 19 years old [Max Togisala] out of Idaho. He went to Pinehurst to the Adaptive Open and shot a 70 — 2 under par — the record for the seated division. He’s now kind of our ambassador. We use him all the time for telling people how we changed his life and his golf game. He was in a skiing accident, but he was an avid golfer before.
Q: How much is this going to set me back if I want to buy it?
A: That’s the challenge because we make still relatively few. Our price is $29,700. So, it’s expensive. We’re just starting to do the marketing on it now. I want the guy on the couch to go to the golf course and say, “Hey, you should get one of these.” Then the golf courses know that there’s a product that can meet those needs. And we’re also trying to let people know that there’s foundations that can help them. There’s events that they could do at their local golf course for a fundraiser.
Q: How many of these have you sold?
A: We’re at 70 now, so very few. We’re really just getting started. I have gone up out on a couple of deliveries on these. And the person stands up [to take a shot] and he hasn’t stood up for a couple of years. And he’s there with his wife, and they both have tears in their eyes, and they hug each other. I mean it’s one of the most heartwarming things. People say, “Man, this is going to change my life.”
I mean, what a neat thing, right? It’s not that we’re not going to make a buck or two on this. But having a product that has that kind of effect on people — talk about rewarding. And it really is.
Star Tribune
Balloon release honors MN crash victims
Dozens wept and embraced before releasing scores of balloons Saturday over north Minneapolis to remember two community pillars who were killed in a fiery car accident.
The crowd gathered near 26th and Emerson avenues to remember Esther Jean Fulks, 53, and Rose Elaine Reece, 57. They died on Dec. 16 when Teniki Latrice Elise Steward, 38, allegedly drove through a red light and struck their vehicle. A teen waiting at a nearby bus stop also was injured.
Fulks and Reese “gave their love and their hard work and dedication to the community. And as you can see, there’s people out here for them,” said Fulks’ daughter, D’Nia. “I’m going to miss my mom. That was my world, I was with her day in and day out. I was hoping to come home to my mom and it didn’t happen.”
“It means a lot,” Esther’s son, Joseph Loyd, said of neighbors attending the balloon release. “It shows what they contributed to the community and how much they meant to people. Not just their own families, but they touched countless other families and helped people.”
Emmary Thomas set a candle down at a bus stop during a balloon release Saturday for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece at 26th and Emerson avenues in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Flowers, balloons, candles and pictures sat at a bus stop during a balloon release Saturday for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Drakarr Lobley hugged a supporter during Saturday’s balloon release for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. Lobley is Reece’s son. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Family and friends said Fulks and Reece were pillars of the community who treated strangers like family and brought love to those around them. Both had worked as navigators for the Minneapolis Cultural Wellness Center since 1998, connecting residents to food, clothing, shelter and other resources.
“They reminded us daily of the transformative power of service, love, and cultural connection,” Elder Atum Azzahir, executive director of the Cultural Wellness Center, said in a statement. “They were not just navigators — they were beacons of hope, guiding people toward brighter futures.”
At the crash scene Saturday, loved ones embraced while shedding tears and sharing memories. Anthony Hamilton’s “I Can’t Let Go” played as passing motorists shouted condolences and words of support. Caution tape strung to a traffic cone near the intersection fluttered in the wind.
Star Tribune
Party City to shutter hundreds of stores across the U.S., including 10 in Minnesota
Hit by headwinds including inflationary pressures, competition from e-commerce sites, big box retailers, pop-up stores and even a helium shortage, Party City is going out of business.
The closing of the nation’s largest party supply store, reported by CNN on Friday, is expected to shutter more than 700 retail stores in North America by the end of February, including 10 stores in Minnesota.
According to the company’s website, Party City has outlets in Apple Valley, Bloomington, Chanhassen, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Roseville, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park and Woodbury. Employees contacted at stores in Roseville, St. Cloud and Apple Valley said they had heard of the closing but could not comment.
Party City, which sells everything from balloons, costumes and birthday banners to gender reveal props and New Year’s Eve tiaras, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023. That resulted in the cancellation of nearly $1 billion in debt.
The 38-year-old New Jersey-based company exited bankruptcy after naming a new CEO, Barry Litwin, in August. But the company was still contending with more than $800 million in debt, according to CNN. The New York Times reported the company employed more than 16,000 people.
Star Tribune
Panel warns against vitamin D, calcium use to prevent falls in older adults
A panel of independent health experts recommended this month against older adults using vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent falls and fractures, citing inadequate evidence to support their effectiveness.
The guidance from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force underscores the risks of supplementation without prior testing and diagnosis for a vitamin D deficiency or for osteoporosis.
While vitamin D and calcium are important for bone health and muscle function, the task force, a blue-ribbon panel of experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine, said the supplements do little to reduce falls or fractures, and they may increase the risk of kidney stones.
The task force said the recommendation applies to people living at home, including women who have gone through menopause and men 60 years and older. It does not apply to people in assisted living or nursing homes because people living in those facilities may be more prone to health complications, including risk of falls.
Patients whose medical providers have suggested supplements as part of their clinical regimen are recommended to continue with that guidance.
The task force assigned a grade of D to the recommendation, indicating that it advises against use of the supplements because of moderate or high certainty that they provide no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits — discouraging its use.
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among people 65 and older, a problem that increased steadily from 2012 to 2021. In 2020, health care spending related to falls in older adults that did not result in death was $80 billion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
John M. Ruiz, a task force member, said the answer to minimizing the risk of falling does not lie in vitamin supplementation. He said a review of research by the health experts found no dose of vitamin D with or without calcium was useful in preventing falls and fractures.