Gondek, who lives off Scotch Road, rode her motorized wheelchair 6.9 miles from her house all the way to Arm & Hammer Park.
Janeen Gondek does not like to miss Trenton Thunder games.
But the Ewing resident, who is confined to a wheelchair due to advanced Lyme's Disease, had a problem on Tuesday night. Gondek, who attends almost every home Thunder game each season, was supposed to meet her friend Christian Naugle at the game. With Reading in town, they were going to celebrate Naugle's (he is a big Phillies fan) 50th birthday, which was on Sunday.
Access Link, which is a public transportation service for people with disabilities, did not pick her up for the game.
"I was on the phone with Access Link, and they told me that I was a no show," Gondek said. "I told them there was no way I missed the bus. I told them to send the bus for me, but they said that I was a no show, and they would not send the bus back.
"They take me to every game."
With no way to get to the game via transportation, it was looking pretty bad for Gondek. But she improvised.
Gondek, who lives off Scotch Road by the Ewing Municipal Building, rode her motorized wheelchair 6.9 miles from her house all the way to Arm & Hammer Park. Her route took her onto Rt. 29 during rush hour, a daunting task at times with a car. But with a little help from the Sheriff's Office, and the Trenton Police, Gondek arrived safely at the game, which was won by Naugle's Fightin Phils 2-0.
"I just decided that I was going to drive my chair to the game," Gondek said. "So I take my stuff, my dog, my bag, I make sure my bell and megaphone are packed, and I get on Scotch Road.
"I cut through the Presbyterian cemetery there, because I don't want to go around that curve there. I take Scotch Road to Parkway, Parkway to Lower Ferry, Lower Ferry to Sullivan, and Sullivan to 29.
"I get on 29, and I am cruising along in my chair, and all of a sudden, I notice that the traffic behind me is a little slow. I was on the right shoulder, on the river side. I am really just enjoying the view, and the weather.
"I stopped, and moved as far to the curb as I could, and tried to wave the car around. Then I saw the lights of the Sheriff's officer. I said oh no, I am going to get a ticket. But they said to me, 'Keep going, we are keeping you safe.'"
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If anyone has tried to navigate Rt. 29 at rush hour, with the state office workers trying to get home, he or she knows that the Calhoun Street Bridge and Rt. 1 Bridge entrances are tough to navigate. But Gondek once again got some help, to continue on her way.
"We got to the Trenton Water Works, and I pulled into the parking lot," Gondek said. "My concern was, the merging traffic coming on and off the Calhoun Street Bridge, plus to get on the Route 1 Bridge, the shoulder isn't there.
"So the Trenton Police show up behind the Sheriff's van. They called Access Link, which refused to send a van. They escorted me all the way until I got up on the sidewalk by the field.
"The whole thing took one hour and 20 minutes."
Naugle could not believe Gondek did all that to get to the game.
"I heard the story three times, and I thought it was a joke and she was messing with me," Naugle said. "When we sat down, and she told me she really did it, she started to get into the details of it. I have known her for about three years. We met in this stadium.
"I started to put the logistics of it together, and I know she has been out on the open road before, to take her daughter to school. But that was quite shorter than seven miles."
The main question that had to be asked is, why all this effort?
"Because the Thunder are my favorite," Gondek said.
"There is nothing this women can't do," Naugle said. "Baseball is her passion, and this team is her passion.
Trenton won the rubber game with Reading 3-1 Wednesday, to move to 20-11. The Thunder got three runs in the bottom of the second inning, on a double from Ben Ruta and a two-RBI single from Trey Amburgey, then watched as Jonathan Loaisiga limited the Fightin Phils to a Zach Green solo home run in the fourth.
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean
Danny Diaz-Delgado, 20, of Trenton was found shot to death in Hamilton in March. (Facebook) 
