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Sunday FeaturesSunday, April 17, 1977—17White Cone Club votes'eye'to lifeBy CASC1A LUTZ Special to the TribuneRuth Melcher and Orian Page have a few things in common.Both have visual handicaps, both are members of the White Cane Club, both have adjusted to their lives, and yet both are frustrated.Mrs. Melcher, 2116 Travis St., has been totally blind since 1961 Page, 1619 Hayes St., has been legally blind for about the last 16 years.Mrs Melcher developed cataracts on both her eyes in the spring of 1961. In June she underwent a successful removal of the cataract on her left eye She experienced a satisfactory recovery until Christmas Day of that year, when she was told that she had glaucoma “It wasn’t any fun at first,” said Mrs. Melcher. “I was afraid I was going to fall in a hole or trip. It wasn’t a real big adjustment for the family. I don’t think the family felt it as much as I and my late husband did.”But she has adjusted very well to her sightlessness She crochets, makes knickknacks, pot holders, yam animals and just about anything in the line of novelties “I can do all that stuff,” she says emphatically “I can do leatherwork.She also does her share of the housework.“I manage pretty well on my own,” commented Mrs Melcher. But I have a girl come in once a week to do the heavy cleaning and scrubbing Her son Harvey, a student at Western Wisconsin Technical Institute, does most of the cooking. Harvey is one of Mrs. Melcher’s 11 children“Yes, I have 11 children and they are all good kids, every one of them,” she said proudly Page was in the hospital, recovering from one of a series of strokes he has experienced over the years, when the White Cane Club contacted him, asking him to join the organization Prior to that meeting, Page had been told by his physician that he had cataracts on both his eyes. Within two months of that diagnosis, he was legally blind with little hope for recovery of his sight.But Page hasn't stopped living just because he can’t function the way he once could He and his wife, Ruth, an associate member of the White Cane Club, are foster parents Over the past 21 years, the Pages, under the supervision of Catholic Social Services, have taken 161 infants into their home, caring for them “sometimes only overnight, sometimes two weeks to a month,” until a permanent home is found for them.Page told the story of how they came to become foster parents “When our youngest daughter was little, she wanted a baby sister or brother for Christmas, but, of course, that was out of the question, he chuckled. “But several months before, we had applied for creditation as foster parents from the Catholic Social Services and were waiting for our clearance.“We received our first baby, a girl, shortly after Christmas and that was our daughter’s Christmas present — a baby ‘sister’, explained Page “And we have been at it ever since.” Although Page can not easily maneuver because of his stroke experiences, he does do the “sitting-down” infant care jobs like feeding and burping.Page also takes care of his grandchildren outside when the weather permits.“They do the running and I do the yelling, he smiled.Ruth Page, who watched fondly as her husband sang their 160th foster baby, Kurtis. to sleep, said. “When they go out the door that’s the last time we ever see them. They take a little piece of your heart when they go.”But the adjustments these two people have made does not satisfy them. Both say they are frustrated that they can’t do more.I know what I want to do, but I can’t do it,” said Mrs. Melcher. “I don’t have the power to do it.Actually, Mrs Melcher isn't bitter about her blindness.Some people feel sorry for themselves I don’t,” she said proudly. “I don’t get impatient with myself if I can’t do something right the first time. I think that’s the big reason I’ve adjusted so well. ”I have to depend on everybody else now, complained Page. “And I think that is disgusting. I am used to making my own living, and it’s difficult for me to get around a lot of times, but that's the way it goes.”The two are not only bothered by their wish to do more, they are both frustrated by the lackCascia Lutz of the Tribune StaffStill functioning — Orian and Ruth Page and their 160th foster child. Page is keeping active despite his blindness.of public interest the White Cane Club has come to know in recent years.Mrs Melcher felt that this lack of interest has rubbed off on the members of the Cane ClubPeople don’t know how to start talking to a blind person, said Mrs. Melcher. “If they just stop and think that we are just ordinary people, they would see how easy it is to get along with blind people.“We used to do all kinds of things, now we hardly every participate in a function,” said Mrs. Melcher. “We need people interested in supervising classes for the blind. We need to be able to do things and feel worthwhile, and just sitting at meetings isn’t going to get anything done, according to Mrs. Melcher.The Pages have been involved in quite a few activities of the White Cane Club, including cutting rags to be sold to Mathy Construction Co . and contributing to the club’s booth at the annual Holiday Fair “There doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm left in the club, said Page “We used to have braille and typing classes at WWTI, but all of that is gone now Both Mrs. Melcher and Page feel that the club can be very important to visually handicapped persons in the area, but that the club needs togetherness, cooperation and more public interest in order to continue.But this problem isn’t stopping them from going about their daily lives. Mrs. Melcher is planning for two of her granddaughters' weddings this spring, and Page has his foster babies to love and care for “When you lose your sight, you feel that the world has changed so much for you that you are reluctant to do things. You more or less want to confine yourself.This is the way Mrs. Laura Hatch, cofounder of the White Cane Club, describes the problems faced by a visually handicapped person But 15 years ago, two women expressed a serious need for visually handicapped persons to share their time, problems and thoughts with persons in the same visual predicament Mrs. Hatch and Donna Stanhope, both legally blind from birth, were those two women We felt there was a need for an organization because some of the people in town were newly blinded We thought if we could get a club together, we could more or less exchange problems and ideas, said Mrs. Hatch. We were used to being blind or visually handicapped all of our lives, but those people weren’t Thus, the White Cane Club was born in 1962 Arrangements were made to meet at the old YWCA building “We got 13 visually handicapped people to join that first meeting, said Mrs Hatch “Friends and relative were also'welcome, and many came.”Although Mrs Hatch was born legally blind, she had been fortunate enough to undergo a series of operations which had enabled her to recognize faces and places, but not well enough to drive a car But over the last 10 years. Mrs. Hatch has developed glaucoma.She attended the school for the blind in Vinton, Iowa, for a time, and received her high school diploma from the School for the Visually Handicapped in Janesville Mrs. Hatch also described Donna Stanhope, who died 2l/z years ago “We were more like sisters than justfriends, she said We really believed there was a very special need for blinded persons to come together where there were others with the same problems.”Shortly after helping form the White Cane Club, Mrs. Stanhope moved to Phoenix, Ariz., and then to Iowa where she died.“We have had a lot of the members pass away, with the largest share dying from diabetes,” said Mrs. HatchVisually handicapped persons aren’t the only ones involved in the club, according to Mrs. Hatch“Anyone who has a visual problem, or is beginning to lose their vision, or has lost it completely is, of course, very welcome to join the club, said Mrs. Hatch “But we also encourage associate members to join.”These associate members may be friends or relatives of visually handicapped persons, or just interested in what is happening in the White Cane Club. These people help their sightless friends by providing transportation to and from meetings, assisting in maneuvering in a strange environment, and just helping out where needed.And Mrs. Hatch doesn’t feel that having a sight problem has been that difficult a problem for her“I am perfectly content with what I can see.”fascia Lutz of the Trl6une StaffRuth Melchershe said. “I have never known normal vision, so I don’t know what it is, and so I don’t really regret not being able to see normally.15 years of serving the blindIxiura HatchThe White Cane Club met for the first time in May 1962, largely through the efforts of Laura Hatch and Mrs. Donna Stanhope Since that first meeting the club has participated in community activities, received a bus to transport the visually handicapped to their meetings, was presented with an ||American flag made especially for the blind, and has sought to enable area visually handicapped and blind persons to cope with their sight problems.One of the early problems that dogged the club was transportation of blind members to classes. Up to $45 a month was being spent for taxi fares.Former Miss La Crosse-Miss Oktoberfest Kathleen Hickey heard of the club’s problem and sought a solution to the problem She enlisted the aid of the South Side Lions Club, which formed a bus committee In July 1967 the Lions bought a bus and presented it to the club.During the early years of the club’s existence, braille and typing classes were available to the members at Coleman Technical Institute, now Western Wisconsin Technical Institute. But after a short time, the White Caners found their classroom space and instructors at Coleman were no longer available because of space limitations and minimum pupil regulations The club went into action, soliciting helpfrom some of its members who had taken craft classes at the School for the Blind in Janesville Basket weaving and leather work were two of the crafts taught to participants in the club by their fellow club members Many products of such classes have been sold at the club's booth at the annual Holiday Fair, with other outlets constantly being sought But sales efforts have not been too successful in the past.Mrs Harold Skoug, 1419 North St., spent some six months of her leisure time sewing a special American flag made for the White Cane Club. She made the red stripes of velvet. the white strips of satin and the blue field of heavy blue cotton. She padded and embroidered the 50 stars, all the work with the idea of aiding the blind to sense the relation of stars and stripes through use of mate rials in different textures The White Cane Club will mark its 15th anniversary with a 5 p.m. Sunday dinner in the faculty dining room of the Kumm Building at WWTI A social hour will begin at 4 p m Emmet Walsh and Olive Plamadore will provide the entertainment Walsh, who taught braille to sighted and blind persons at Coleman in 1963. will sing to the accompaniment of Miss Plamadore on the piano According to Eleanor Lahue. current president of the W'hite Cane Club, past presidents and their spouses will be the honored guests She said that Mayor and Mrs. Patrick Zielke also plan to attend the event Currently the White Cane Club's membership consists of 15 visually handicapped persons and 15 sighted associate members
Newspaper Details
La Crosse Sunday Tribune
La Crosse, Wisconsin, US
Sun, Apr 17, 1977
Page 16
Full Page
Clipped by
La C.
WI, USA 21 Aug 2024
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