Peabody Lions "Beyond Vision" Event

Beyond Vision Press Release

Peabody Lions Honor Peabody’s Sight Impaired Community with “Beyond Vision” Event


The more than 300 legally blind citizens of Peabody had reason to celebrate last month when the Peabody Lions Club and Mayor Ted Bettencourt hosted “Beyond Vision: A Tribute to Peabody’s Sight Impaired Community”.  More than a hundred people attended the event on April 12 in Peabody City Hall, including friends, families, business leaders, Senator Joan Lovely, State Rep, Leah Cole, City Councilors, Tom Walsh, Joel Saslaw, and Tom Gould.

The event recognized hard-working, successful, sight-impaired students, former students, adults, and seniors, who live and work in Peabody. 
Thirty-eight people were honored with a video presentation of photos and interviews of these diverse, blind and visually impaired residents.  The youngest Honoree was 2 years old and the oldest in attendance was 100 years old.
A personal video message was delivered by Erik Weihenmayer, a world class blind adventurer, who was the first blind person to climb Mt Everest and the world's 7 highest summits. 

Each honoree was presented with Braille and Large Print Certificates, gift baskets of signed books and Touch the Top CDs from Mr. Weihenmayer, and Michael Hingson and his Guide dog who helped people escape from the 78th floor of the World Trade Center on 9/11. There were also personalized gifts of sensory toys, large print and audio books, kitchen gadgets, and music CDs.  Light refreshments were provided by Century House and Ice Cream by Treadwells.

The Peabody Lions Club event provided a forum for the visually impaired to learn about new resources and meet the people who can provide them, including WGBH.

“WGBH has been serving those with sensory impairments in Massachusetts and the country”, said Larry Goldberg, Director of Community Engagement for WGBH.  “WGBH invented Closed Captioning and more recently Descriptive Video Service (DVS) which is now available globally”.  The service provides descriptive narration of key visual elements, which is then inserted within the natural pauses in dialogue to help low-vision viewers to better understand the story. To illustrate, Goldberg showed a clip of a Disney movie with DVS which makes it possible for anyone with a visual impairment to attend the movies.

John Oliveira, Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, said Peabody has the third highest population of legally blind residents in the region, behind Lawrence and Lynn.

Go to www.PeabodyTV.com to watch the entire event.  For questions or comments contact Peabody Lions at peabodylionsclub@aol.com.

Quotes:

Jeannine Gentleman, Lions International District Governor 2010-11

"As an active Lions Club member for many years the Beyond Vision event was the best tribute I have ever attended. It really exemplified our Lions Motto "We Serve"! The Peabody Lions Club is the first to recognize the contributions of an entire community while establishing lasting partnerships with the residents, local businesses and community leaders."

Beverley Griffin Dunne, Peabody School Committee

"Peabody Lions Club held a wonderfully informative day with their first Beyond Vision Tribute that I hope will be an ongoing event. I was very proud of the success and depth of our programs in the Peabody Public Schools. I was also thrilled to hear about the advocacy and contributions of the Peabody Lions Club members and of our friends and neighbors right here in Peabody. Making everyone aware of the needs as well as the achievements of the sight impaired is a noble mission.

Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr.:

“I am grateful to the Peabody Lions Club for sponsoring” said Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr.  “This was an inspirational forum that helped members of our community more fully appreciate the many contributions of the sight impaired.  As public servants and community leaders, it is our duty to harness this inspiration and direct it towards more practical public policy and community acceptance.”

Pamela Sudore, Vision Specialist, Peabody Public Schools; Founder of Sight Line Productions,

(Braille & Large Print for business and communities).

" Last Fall, I approached the Peabody Lions Club to do a special event to acknowledge the successes and contributions of Peabody's visually Impaired residents. They eagerly accepted the challenge and Beyond Vision: A Tribute to Peabody’s Sight Impaired Community became a pioneering event, the first time visually impaired residents have been truly supported and recognized by their own community! It is my hope that the Beyond Vision concept will spread to other communities in New England and throughout the country"

Erik Weihenmayer

In closing Erik said "Peabody's award recipients represent the No Barriers mindset: Despite the challenges we face, what's inside of us is much stronger than what's in our way. It's not about breaking records, adrenaline sports, or climbing Mt. Everest. We are responsible for each other, accountable to each other, believe in each other, and we all win together".