There’s just over a week left to vote for a Green Oak Township family that is a top five finalist in a national invention contest.

Jennifer Copland, and her sons Parker and Evan Frye, beat out thousands of other families across the country to nab a finalist spot in The National Frito-Lay Variety Packs Dreamvention contest. The contest encouraged families across America to dream big and submit an idea to solve an everyday problem. For Copland and the Frye boys, their idea was “Sole Riders”. Parker Frye, who has held the role as the primary inventor, says the idea of "Sole Riders" came to him as a result of having to walk to and from his bus stop.

Sole Riders is footwear with special built-in connectors in the soles that allow the shoes to connect to numerous attachments, many of which fit in a backpack for easy transport. The various attachments allow everyday footwear to be transformed into skis, floor mops, lawn aerators, roller-skates and snowshoes, among other things.

The whole family pitched in to create the design, with Copland suggesting attachment ideas like a mop to help keep the house clean, and Evan helping with the design and graphics for the online Dreamvention submission. The local family learned they had made the top five in June and was flown out to Hollywood with the other finalists in September. Finalists weren’t allowed to notify anyone outside of the household until November 26th - a secret that Copland says was very hard to keep.

The family is once again asking for the community’s help to win the $250,000 prize that the boys plan to use for college, should their invention take first place. The winning invention is selected by online voting, which runs until January 6th. Supporters can vote once a day per device per browser and the winner will be announced early January. A link to vote is posted below. (DK)



Facebook Photos.
Photo 1: (From left to right) Parker, "Dreamvention" celebrity spokesperson Cobie Smulders, Evan and Jennifer.