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They may tell you it's not hard to find Ride-Away Corp. in Londonderry. It's easier than finding, say, Batman's cave, the command bunker of the Strategic Air Command or the missing 18-and-a-half minutes on the Watergate tape. You can either follow the company's directions exactly or come by way of Frito-Lay.
From Manchester, just go south on South Willow Street, past the Mall of New Hampshire. Bear right on Harvey Road and right again at the sign leading you to Stonyfield Farm. Then, if you take a wrong turn onto North Wentworth Avenue, ask the folks in the Frito-Lay building for directions. Yes, the RideAway "hideaway" is out in the boondocks. But there is plenty of parking.
That's because people do find the place. People from all over New Hampshire and Massachusetts, from Presque Isle, Maine, Derby Line, Vt., upstate New York and down to Long Island. The distances are long, but the needs are great. Ride-Away customizes vehicles for people with disabilities. For them, finding Ride-Away is finding freedom.
"It means independence. It means mobility," said George Torromeo, who recently came up with his wife from their Methuen, Mass., home to have the air conditioning repaired on his customized 1995 Econoline van. Multiple sclerosis has left Torromeo wheelchair-bound for the past five years. The 59-year-old Air Force veteran got his van two years ago from the Veterans Administration, which sent him to Ride-Away. There, a hydraulic lift was added, enabling him to enter and exit the van at the push of a button. The accelerator and brakes also were reworked to allow operation by hand.
According to company founder and President Mark Lore, the nature of his business is such that "there are not a lot of choices for the client. You never want to say you're the only game in town, because then your...