LENDING A HELPING HAND SKI INSTRUCTOR HONORED FOR HIS WORK WITH DISABLED YOUTH.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

LA HABRA - John Price drew laughs and strange looks while swooshing down the Big Bear Mountain ski resort in the recently completed ski season.

``Here I am, saying choo-choo-choo all day,'' he said. ``I get the strangest looks.''

Of course, the La Habra resident was not mimicking a train engine for kicks. He had on a special bib, signifying he was a volunteer instructor. And his pupil was a developmentally disabled youth who likes to play with toy trains.

``You have to play games with them,'' Price explained. ``You have to find games they like. In that instance, it was trains. We'll play cops and robbers. I say, `I'm the robber. Follow me.' ''

The 61-year-old has helped the U.S. Adaptive Recreation Center for 11 years. He was recently selected as the program's Volunteer of the Year.

``He's incredibly dependable,'' USARC executive director Kelle Malkewitz said. ``He's always volunteering and always bringing volunteers with him.''

The California High graduate, who retired as the city of Santa Fe Spring's director of public works last year, worked on the mountain for 14 days this season.

``This is one of the best things I have ever done,'' Price said. ``It's a wonderful program and I receive great joy from doing it.''

Actually, it gives Price a chance to ski, something he learned while a student at the University of Wyoming but did not excel at until he joined the USARC. His sport utility vehicle, with ski racks on top, has the license plate SNOPREY.

The USARC has more than 200 volunteers who each donate six mid-week days to the program. Price's wife, Ana, stumbled onto the program on one of her infrequent skiing trips. The disabilities specialist worker convinced her husband to sign up at the next Ski Dazzle Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which signals the beginning of the ski season.

``It was like, where would I find the days to do this? My boss told me that I had too much vacation and that I needed to take it,'' he said.

And USARC had its instructor, who has missed only two appointments in 11 years, teaching more than 100 blind, developmentally disabled, autistic and physically handicapped kids how to ski on regular skis, monopods and bipods.

He is so devoted to the program that when he retired from the public works after 35 years last year, instead of a retirement gift, he asked people to donate to the USARC. He raised $2,500. And after taking home the Volunteer of the Year honors, he wrote to the USARC, ``I thank you for allowing me to be part of this great organization.''

Malkewitz said Price is one of the few volunteers to be certified by the Professional Ski Instructors of America. He was the first certified for instructing the blind but now has certificates for all of the disabilities.

He recruited La Habra resident Gil Flores and Whittier resident Richard Ghoogasian. The trio nearly always car-pool to Big Bear for the mid-week lessons.

``He got me into this,'' Flores said. ``It's a two-for-one deal.''

Working with the blind and with handicapped veterans is among his favorite outings, but when USARC calls with a need for help, Price said he's already in his car.

``The most difficult is the developmentally disabled,'' he said. ``They have a lot of physical problems, can't communicate and sometimes do not understand. When you tell them to turn left, they turn right.''

But it leads to special rewards.

``At the end of the day, when you see what they have accomplished and the confidence they have found, you feel pleased,'' he said. ``Knowing that I have made a difference in a child's life, even for a day, is what makes me want to continue in this most rewarding program.''

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John Price has been named Ski Volunteer Instructor of the Year by the U.S. Adaptive Recreation Center in Big Bear.

Keith Durflinger/Staff Photographer