Saturday, Oct. 15 is White Cane Safety Day, a day of raising awareness for the blind and visually impaired through the recognizable red and white cane used to help navigate the world.
The white cane was actually invented in Peoria.
According to the Central Illinois Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Elmer Thomason, a blind man, was having difficulty crossing a busy intersection in 1931. The president of the Peoria Lions Club at the time saw this and decided to conduct an experiment. He had Thomason walk around with a white cane with a red tip and found drivers were alerted by the distinct cane.
“So they would stop, allowing him to cross the street,” said Paula Balistreri, operations manager at the Central Illinois Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. “The rest, as they say, is history.”
The history of the white cane is well preserved in Peoria; the first one created for Thomason is at the Peoria Riverfront Museum. Even though the look of the white cane is still recognizable, construction of the tool has evolved.
“It was made out of hickory to start with and now it's lightweight aluminum. You can get one that's collapsible so that you can put it in a briefcase or a purse,” said Balistreri. “Now, we measure them to fit people. Because techniques have been developed as to how to best use it.”
The Central Illinois Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CICBVI) helps provide more technology than just the white cane for those who need it. Balistreri said the agency offers training on how to use devices, read the labels on cans and boxes, use special apps that help people with visual impairments and use smartphones and magnifying technology.
“Most of the people that we serve are people who have become blind later in life. And if you can imagine, you used to be able to see everything and now all of a sudden you can't, even things as simple as putting your toothpaste on a toothbrush can become more difficult,” said Balistreri. “So, we're here to basically show you the ropes and help guide you through that whole life-changing event.”
Even with all of the technology available, Balistreri said one of the most important things the center provides is a sense of encouragement and community.
“You can still do all those wonderful things that you love to do,” she said. “You just do them a little bit differently.”
Oct. 15 was proclaimed National White Cane Safety Day in 1968 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In Peoria, Mayor Rita Ali made a special proclamation last year making it a city recognized holiday, in honor of the local invention of the cane. On the day, the Murray Baker bridge is lit up in red and white lights.
The center will be holding an event for White Cane Safety Day, including a cocktail hour, a dinner, jazz music and the lighting of the bridge. You can find more information about that event and the work done by the Central Illinois Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired here.
