Tammy dehydrated sliced oranges, lemons, and limes in preparation for this month’s holiday craft.  Nine members gathered around the table, each with a handful of dried fruit, cranberries, bells, and ribbon. The room filled with the sweet smell of dried fruit as the crafters created their garlands and festive tunes played in the background.

The combination of sticky fingers, peppermint mocha, yummy cookies, and being creative proved to be the perfect recipe to get into the spirit of the holidays.

Approximately twelve individuals participated in the Lunch & Learn session held on November 28. Vicki Preddy, a Registered Nurse Educator, delivered an insightful presentation aimed at increasing awareness of the Sleep-Wake disorder, particularly prevalent in individuals with vision loss. This disorder interferes with the normal 24-hour circadian sleep and wake cycle, resulting in various sleep disturbances. The audience posed excellent questions during the session.

Six students from the Oak Middle School Lego Robotics team in Shrewsbury visited the Center on November 21. As this year’s community project, they wanted to make beads with Braille letters on them so blind or low-vision people could make their own letter bracelets. Several of our members offered to test drive the project. The students were very attentive to the information our members had to offer and very interested in learning about our Center. 

Click here to see more photos.

Tammy and Wendy recently received  3 hours of training on our new Juliet 120 Embosser.  It is very easy to use. Members wishing to print their documents in Braille can connect to our Wi-Fi to print to the Braille embosser from their Bluetooth-enabled device.  We ask that you make an appointment with the Center before coming in.  The Brailler is defaulted to print on both sides and uses Contracted Braille (Grade 2).  We are now able to print our newsletters, meeting handouts, event handouts, and other items of interest for those who read Braille.

Every November the Ledyard Lions Club hosts the Center’s monthly Dinner. It is one of the most anticipated events of the year. About 65 members and guests were served a sit-down meal beginning with a fruit cup and green salad. That was followed by full plates of oven-roasted turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, butternut squash, biscuit, and cranberry sauce. We gobbled up a dessert of pumpkin pie while the tickets for the raffle prizes were drawn and hand-delivered to the happy winners. Thank you to all the generous people who donated the raffle prizes. There were a lot of happy winners!

Click here to see all the turkey dinner photos.

“Orange juice at your ten o’clock position”, announced the young Coast Guard cadet, serving breakfast to a sightless member of the Center of the Blind.

The doors of VFW Post 189 in New London were open wide welcoming the community to the 2^nd Annual White Cane Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, October 15. Roughly 130 people, including local dignitaries, brought family and friends from around Connecticut to enjoy pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs along with cinnamon rolls, coffee, and juice. 

“It’s people coming together to share conversation and good food as a community while supporting a phenomenal organization”, said John Baldwin of Norwich.

The white cane serves to symbolize the integration of visually impaired people everywhere as independent, productive members of society. White Cane Safety Day, (also known as “White Cane Awareness Day”), takes place every October 15.

“We owe a big thanks to Felix and his crew at the New London VFW, along with local Lions clubs and the businesses and volunteers throughout our area that make it possible for us to put on this fun event”, said Wendy Lusk, the Center’s Executive Director.

“It was an honor to have volunteers from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy helping out”, said Center vice president Kevin Harkins. “They are always front-and-center to assist with our bigger events”, Harkins said. It is one of the many ways these courageous men and women serve the people they protect.”

Member Christopher Million won the door prize of a BioMed Watch that can track his vital stats. Several other members won gift certificates from local restaurants. A big shoutout to member Tim Tryon for donating 18 dozen eggs for this event. Thank you to members Marni and Al Ouellette for assisting with the raffle ticket sales. They have an awesome method of tracking “hundreds” of ticket sales without writing your name on them

On October 10, several members had a BOO! of a time creating ghosts from white cloth and gooey mod podge. These creations came out really cute. Visit our Facebook page to see the photos. While sipping cider, and eating goodies, the group enjoyed lots of jokes and fun and laughter as Monster Mash and Thriller played in the background.

A few intrepid souls braved the hottest day of the year to pick apples at Holmberg’s Orchards in Gales Ferry. Apple varieties included Macintosh, Macouns, and Honeycrisp. After a picnic lunch a visit to the store was in order. Who can pass up the delicious Holmberg’s apple crisp and hard cider?

On September 9, the Center participated in the Healthy Living Festival at Dodd Stadium. There were over 118 vendors taking part in the fair. We were fortunate to have a prime location under the concession stands and beautiful weather. A Boy Scout troop stopped by to inquire about our organization. As part of their program, they can earn more than 135 merit badges, one of which is a Disabilities Awareness Merit badge. Scouts learn about the experiences of someone with a disability, explain the significance of disability etiquette, and how it may differ depending on the specific disability. We invited the scouts to visit the Center to learn more about people with low vision or blindness.

Each month Chelsea Groton Bank features a display from a non-profit organization in their lobby. This month we are in the Waterford branch. The touchable display includes a braille book and a braille machine as well as our tabletop presentation board explaining who we are. Brochures, membership forms, pens, and magnifiers are available for the bank patrons.