CELINA, Ohio (WLIO) — It's not every day you see a car drive straight into a lake. These are Amphicars — classic convertibles that drive on land, then float and cruise like boats.
This is the 25th year the International Amphicar Owners Club has brought their one-of-a-kind vehicles to the Celina Lake Festival. For the car owners, the highlight of the weekend is giving seniors the thrill of something new.
"It's very exciting for us. We really enjoy it because they get so much enjoyment and pleasure out of going for an Amphicar ride. They look forward to it for sometimes up to a month before we come down here. They start chatting it up and ask, 'When are the Amphicars coming?' So they look forward to it, and they generally talk for sometimes weeks afterward about the experience and how much they really enjoyed it," said Charles Reiner, Amphicar owner.
For the staff, it's important to bring this kind of excitement to their residents.
"We want to make sure our residents wake up every morning excited about something new to do. It's kind of something different — when you're driving and all of a sudden you're in the middle of the lake, it's pretty cool stuff," said Yvonne Miller, life enrichment director at Otterbein.
And to the residents, that initial splash going into the lake never gets old.
"I was excited. It was so exhilarating — just going into the water, splashing in. It was really neat," said Margie Manning, Otterbein resident.
"I went on an Amphicar, and it was so exciting. And we asked him a lot of questions, and we learned a lot," said Thelma Heitkamp, Otterbein resident.
You can catch the Amphicars in action Friday night during their Splash-In at West Bank State Park, and again Saturday in the Lake Festival parade.
