When you think of a real life super hero, the first person who comes to your mind would have to be Dink Shackleford. When you first meet Dink you might notice that he is in a wheel chair. Then, about a minute into a conversation with him, you quickly forget about it. However, if you happened to have first met Dink while he was tooling around on the Harley he used to ride, you might have missed the wheelchair tucked casually into its sidecar. With a heart of gold, a quick wit and a trigger happy mouth that can sometimes overload his quick wit, Dink has been instrumental in leading the Kiwanis Club of Norton down new and adventurous paths. Dink Shackleford hasn't merely compensated for his handicap, he has by force of will and indomitable spirit ignored it so that it just went away in his mind and that of his fellow Kiwanians. This prompted one member of our club to present Dink with a "Superman" shirt that had a handicapped sign in place of the Superman emblem. That captured Dink to a tee.

On a day when you're not feeling your best you can go to a Kiwanis Club meeting and Dink can come in the room and just brighten every ones mood by saying something completely witty and inappropriate. Not everyone can pull that off. That's a super hero!

At our last Christmas social Dink was taking snapshots of folks around the Christmas tree. He is always thinking more of others than himself but does not want anyone to know that. That's a super hero!

Dink heads up a project that enables all foster children to have their own suitcases to take with them as they are transferred from home to home. Dink says they need something to call their own. That's a super hero!

Dink once decided to establish the "Chief Benge" hiking trail. He recruited a few other Kiwanians, and in a matter of months, this wheelchair-bound dynamo had managed to get a hiking trail hacked through the tortuous terrain from the old Legion Cabin to Benge's Rock and beyond. It was all just part of his tireless promotion of the area and its assets. One of his causes has been the illumination of Flag Rock. He hasn't gotten that done yet, but he hasn't given up, either.

No one ever has to question Dink's opinion pertaining to any subject. He is a self made man who will speak his mind. He does not play games. However, if he has spoken inappropriately he will apologize. That's a super hero!

The Benge's Revenge Bicycle Challenge is one of Dink's project creations and the trail personifies Dink's personality. Entering into its 6th season, it may well prove to be one of the Kiwanis Club of Norton's major events. The trail is full of ups and downs, bumps and lumps, smoothness, roughness and majestic splendor ...just like Dink! Now that's a super hero!