'Muppet' motorcyclist makes custom helmet, helps sick kids in B.C.
'Muppet' motorcyclist makes custom helmet, helps sick kids in B.C.
Langford, B.C. -
While you probably know the song that starts with “get your motor runnin’,” you likely wouldn’t expect to see a Muppet “head out on the highway.”
“It makes the ride a little bit more fun than just a commute,” Scott Ferron says with a smile.
Scott says his custom-made helmet-cover — which looks like a life-sized ‘Animal’ character — makes the people he passes a lot more happy.
“I see people smiling and pointing. I’m smiling under my helmet,” Scott says, before laughing. “I just need a stronger neck. That’s a lot of wool in the air.”
There’s more than three kilograms of red, orange, and yellow wool flying behind his helmet, which Scott spent more than a 100 hours assembling. The naval marine engineer says crafting the ‘Animal’ helmet is not dissimilar to working on vessels ranging from submarines to minesweepers.
“The tools are different,” Scott explains. “The materials are different, but in the end, it’s all about the relationship between the two pieces that you’re bonding.”
A few years ago, Scott started bonding like-minded bikers together in Halifax by creating Helmet Head Canada. He shows CTV News pictures of dozens of motorcyclists wearing multi-coloured characters on their heads.
Now, the group’s expanded to Victoria and its members are looking for Muppet merriment adventure in whatever comes their way.
“It’s fun,” Scott says. “If that’s enough to make them feel a little better, go for it.”
But it wasn’t enough for Scott. Unlike the Steppenwolf song, he was not “Born to be wild.”
“I was a very sick infant.”
Scott says he spent significant time in hospital as a child and found comfort watching Kermit, Miss Piggy and the rest of gang.
“I loved ‘The Muppet Show,’” Scott says. “It was one of my favourite things.”
And now that he’s a dad, Scott can also imagine how it must feel for the parent of a child in hospital. He felt compelled to help and staged a series of Helmet Head toy drives for kids in pediatric wards and provincial care.
“It’s kind of a soft spot in my heart to give back,” Scott says. “And make sure the kids have something fun.”
It’s something hopeful and happy to inspire their spirits to “explode into space.”
“If you can brighten somebody’s day, give ‘er,” Scott says.
“Make it happen,” the song says. And, “take the world in a love embrace.”
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