Greg Otis, a well-known former resident of Devils Lake, now lives in Fargo.
He still has family here and visits whenever he has the opportunity.
Last week he was in town with a friend, Crystal Dueker, on behalf of the Lions Club.
They visited with a large group of youngsters and parents at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 23 in the Community Room at the Lake Region Public Library.
First Greg read one of his favorite books to the children titled “Grandpa’s White Cane” written by Jim Hoxie and Joanna Jones, illustrated by Alex Portal. It is a sweet, informative story about a grandfather who loses his eyesight from glaucoma. Grandpa learns how to navigate the world using his white cane as his vision decreased.
Much like Otis’ own story.
Then, following a short break, he continued answering questions from the audience, many of whom were children from the Summer Reading program at the Library. The questions were thoughtful, “You have both of your eyes, why can’t you see?”
Otis explained how the optic nerve works and how, in his case, glaucoma slowly robbed him of all his sight. He talked about going to school in Grand Forks at the North Dakota Vision Services, also known as the ND School for the Blind, to learn how to walk with his white cane.
One child asked if he could cook for himself and Otis replied that he did. After a life of working in restaurants he could still prepare meals for himself, even though his eyesight was gone. He explained the hardest part was measuring ingredients for baking.
When asked if he would ever like to have a seeing eye dog he explained that for someone like him, that wasn’t possible because those highly trained and skilled animals were available for those who needed to be going to work everyday, for example. He does not have to go to work anymore, so he has to use his cane and the arm of a friend – if there is one available – instead of using a seeing eye dog.
Dueker explained about the Lions Club and how they as a club throughout the world have a special interest in vision. They sponsor vision exams regularly for people of all ages, especially school aged children. That’s one of the reasons why she and Otis were in Devils Lake, to attend the Arts in the Park Tuesday evening in Roosevelt Park and to speak at the local Kiwanis and Rotary Club meetings about the work of the Lions Club.
When all the questions were answered both Otis and Dueker thanked the audience and each child was given a copy of the book “Grandpa’s White Cane” to take home. In the back of the little book is information for the children and their families about White Cane Day, every October 15; Do’s and Don’ts for people with white canes; White Cane information; a glossary of terms used in the book; references, sources and information about the authors and illustrator of the book itself.
A hand written note on the inside cover of the book: “This book is from the Lions Club of North Dakota. Our mission is vision and helping our communities thrive through our service as volunteers. Each year we partner with school nurses to do vision screening of over 20,000 children across our state. We help families in need provide glasses for their children. October is Blind Awareness month. October 15 is White Cane Day. Please check your vision. Please share this book with family and friends. Any questions? Contact Crystal at moonmadnd@aol.com”
