By Dan Werner

“Hey, Rickshaw Willie,” someone calls out as Tim Wilhelm drives his Pedicab down Main Street in Akron, Ohio. It’s a common occurrence these days, as Wilhelm, aka “Rickshaw Willie,” has become somewhat of a local celebrity.

“Everybody has to have their picture taken with Rickshaw Willie,” Wilhelm says. “People are hugging me all the time, and kids will run out to the edge of the curb to high-five me as I drive down the road. Even some local business owners came up to me while I was eating dinner and told my wife that I had become a downtown Akron icon.”

But it was only about a year ago when the 54-year-old Wilhelm found himself depressed and at a crossroads in his life. A truck driver for 31 years, Wilhelm became the victim of a sagging economy when the trucking company he works for merged with another and then decided to take him out of his truck and onto the loading dock.

“It was about the lowest point I had ever been in my life,” he says. “I didn’t know if I’d pull out of the depression, but I’m not a quitter, so I kept thinking about what I could do.”

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Tags: bicycle, Cabs, Colorado, community, dan werner, downtown, driver, fun, Main Street, Main Street Pedicabs, manufacturer, Ohio, parade route, Pedicab, pedicab business, Pedicab News, pedicabs, pub crawl, rickshaw, street pedicabs, traffic

In a history-making appearance, St. Nicholas celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at the Tucson (Arizona) St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 15, 2009 as the crowd roared their approval.  Santa didn’t have his sleigh, but he seemed just as jolly to be whizzed around the parade route in a beautiful bicycle rickshaw driven by Wes Weisheit, owner of Tucson Rickshaw, whom Santa named an “honorary merry elf driver” for the occasion.

Santa Claus enthusiastically exclaimed that “Besides Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day is my favorite holiday! Ho! Ho! Ho!”

The children’s hearts were warmed by the unexpected visitor from the North Pole and were thrilled to hear Santa say that he was delighted that they’d all been “being good…even in March!”

As Santa Claus left the St. Patrick’s Day Celebration he was heard to exclaim, “Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all and to all a good night!”

Tags: Arizona, arizona st, bicycle, Claus, driver, parade route, Pedicab, Pedicab News, rickshaw, Santa, santa claus, st nicholas, st patrick, Tucson, tucson arizona, Wes Weisheit