A 3-year old Elkhart boy this past weekend demonstrated the creativity, dogged determination and willingness to go for what he wanted that has made Hoosiers great. For his efforts he found himself trapped inside a toy vending machine at an Elkhart Wal-mart -- and ultimately flown to New York for a live appearance on the Today Show.
Danielle Manges was shopping in the local Wal-mart, and had just told her son "no" when he asked for money to attempt to pluck a toy from one of those toy dispensing machines with the remote "claw." But son James was not so easily deterred. When Mom bent to pick up James "sippie cup" that he had just dropped, James scurried up the tow dispensing chute. When Mom looked up, there was her son inside the machine sitting contentedly among all the stuffed animals.
Store personnel did not have a key to the machine, so the local fire department had to be summoned. Hand it to Mom. She was cool. While waiting for the fire department, she purchased a disposable camera and took pictures of her son smiling and playing with the toys inside the machine.
The event drew national attention, and both James and his mother were flown to New York for a Today Show appearance. While Katie and Matt interviewed Mom, James seemed unphased and played with the "claw" machine brought in for the show. As Mom talked, little James successfully grabbed several stuffed toys with the claw and dropped them out of the machine to the cheers of the crowd.
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