Animals are attraction for 'Blind Kids on Safari' Children get

By Scott DeSmit

Batavia Daily News

Each time a student ran their hands through the fur of the leopard pelt, Bob Keicher would tell the story of where it came from.  "It was shot in India in the 1950s," he said. "It killed 14 children and was terrorizing a village. Really. It was a big story at the time."  The leopard pelt, though, wasn't the most popular attraction at Blind Kids On Safari program Wednesday at the New York State School for the Blind.  That likely would be the cougar, a full-sized mount that loomed large above the other attractions.  Or maybe the elephant foot-stool, made appropriately enough from the foot of an elephant.  "Rough," said one student who ran his hands around the base of the stool, feeling the course, bristly hair of the elephant.  Keicher is with the Western and Central New York Chapter of the Safari Club, which sponsored the program. He came up with the idea of Blind Kids on Safari, which the previous two years was conducted in Cheektowaga and at the New York State Veterans Home in Batavia.  "This is an opportunity to show what we've taken over the years, instead of just hanging them on a wall to collect dust," he said. "Obviously the kids can't touch real animals and this gives them an idea of what the animals feel like and they can visualize them."

Finger Lakes Chapter President Richard Reinholtz, a former Batavian, said volunteers donate a lot of the pelts and mounts and also come to the program to talk to the students, teachers and aides about each animal. When the program was at the Veterans Home, residents were invited, he said.  "The vets all came down and the kids had a ball," Reinholtz said.  Wednesday, School for the Blind students were joined by students from John Kennedy School.  Colleen Wassink, who was leading her group from Jeff Norris' class around the tables, said students from the School for the Blind visit John Kennedy every other Wednesday and often participate in projects together. 

School Superintendent James Knowles said students enjoy the interaction with others.  "We brought the kids over from the elementary school — one, because it's exciting for our students, and two, it's good for kids to mingle," he said.  Allison Marble, an aide at the school, was leading one of her students to each station. The girl was smiling as she touched a mongoose.  "She loves this," Marble said. "She wants to go back and touch the stuffed animals."  One student raised a mounted fish high in the air and grinned. Others spent time touching the elusive Jack-A-Lope, the only fictional animal on the tables.  The school has 56 students, nearly all who were able to attend Wednesday.  Knowles said it was one of many programs the school does to enrich the lives of the students.  "This is something we incorporate into our curriculum," he said. "They'll talk about this in class ahead of time and once they go back to class, they'll discuss it more. Once a month we have a big event here. The students will choose a letter of the alphabet and it will revolve around that. The kids will talk about it. Something like this is a great sensory situation for them."