Photo by David W. Smith/Daily News Cab driver Barry Williams of Franklin takes Christopher Camden from Kummer/Little Recreation Center to a van for free transportation from Camp Happy Days to his Skyline Village home.

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Jannie Dean of Bowling Green wheeled her son, Christopher Camden, 9, down the ramp Thursday from their home in Sky Line Village at about 8 a.m. She rolled him into the Franklin Taxi Yellow Cab company’s wheelchair accessible van, and the driver took over fastening him in.

This will be Dean and Christopher’s morning routine for the next two weeks.

“Bye, bye,” Christopher, who has had cerebral palsy since he was 9 months old, said to his mother.

The taxi company is chauffeuring Christopher to and from Camp Happy Days, a local camp for children and teenagers with special needs, because his family doesn’t have a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

“We just try to stick around the house as much as possible,” Dean said.

So apart from school, Christopher watches TV, plays with his brother, sisters and dogs and listens to the family’s three parakeets, Dean said. Christopher is always excited when he gets to go somewhere.

This is Christopher’s first time at the camp. His teacher, Vicki Willey, encouraged Dean to send him to camp, and she said she agreed, but didn’t have a way to get him there. So, Willey called the taxi company and arranged for the donated rides.

Christopher will start the fifth grade at Rockfield Elementary School in August.

“He loves school,” Dean said. “He gets up in the morning hollerin’ ‘Bye, bye. Bye, bye.’ ”

She said she thinks going to camp will be fun for Christopher because it’s similar to school. He’ll get to interact with other children and get out of the house. Christopher’s favorite activity at camp will probably be swimming, she said.

Zachary Kitchens of Franklin Taxi, who drove Christopher to camp Thursday, said he was happy to drive him there so that he can have fun the same way most other children do during the summer.

“You ready to go, buddy?” Kitchens asked Christopher as they pulled into the parking lot of the Kummer/Little Recreation Center on College Street.

Amanda Biller, a counselor at the camp and a special education teacher at Lost River Elementary School, where Christopher went to school last year, said about 90 people are registered for this camp session. Another session was earlier in the summer.

The camp is funded by donations from local businesses, so it’s free for the children, she said.

Biller said she and several other local special needs teachers always encourage their students’ parents to sign them up for camp.

Willey, Christopher’s teacher, said the camp reinforces the friendships the children make during the school year, and lets them do things in the community they might not normally do. The camp takes field trips to the movies, bowling alleys and the water fountains in Circus Square Park.

“There’s not as many opportunities for the students to have that social interaction as there are for children that are not disabled,” Willey said.

She said about half her class is attending the camp.

After Kitchens got Christopher out of the van, he wheeled him through the recreation center’s doors to start his first day at camp.

“Bye,” Christopher said with a wide grin as he entered the building. “Bye, bye.”