The Spark
Braille Rallye Wrap-Up T he 46th Braille Rallye on July 19, 2008 was another in a long line of successful events. The day was a little hot but there was no rain. Our club members showed up with their LBCs including four MG “T” series cars, three MG Midgets, one MGB GT, eleven MGB roadsters, one 2005 Lotus Elise and one 1970 Jaguar XKE. Nineteen MGs is not a very impressive showing for a club with 180 members, but, as always seems to be the case, we had just enough cars to accommodate the number of navigators. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any extra cars this year to provide “fun runs” for any of the guests of the navigators. Although we had a few non-LBCs, e.g., a Jeep Sport, in reserve, they weren’t required for the Rallye.Upon their arrival, the navigators from the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind carefully selected their favorite cars and the Rallye was soon underway. A picturesque course through the quaint town of Clifton and the surrounding area had been set out for the event. The optimal time for completion of the course was a little over an hour. After the cars completed the course, the competitors were treated to a great picnic meal organized by Ruth Arnold, who was assisted by many of our non-driver club members. Then came the awards ceremony. Ed Boardman, who did a wonderful job as our Rally Master again this year, announced the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each of the four classes of driving teams. The classes were defined by the reading ability of the navigators. The classes included SENIOR LARGE PRINT for adult navigators with some sight who read the course directions printed in large font, JUNIOR LARGE PRINT for children navigators with similar ability, SENIOR BRAILLE for adults with no sight who read the directions printed in Braille, and JUNIOR BRAILLE for the young Braille readers. For the first time in a few years, we had enough participants to present awards for all three places in each class. During the ceremony, Jocelyn Hunter of the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind said a few words to express her appreciation to our club for its long-standing sponsorship of the Braille Rallye and presented the club with two Columbia Lighthouse tee shirts and an American flag made by blind artisans. After the ceremony, the Lighthouse folks began to make their way home and many of our members stayed to help with clean-up. All in all, the Rallye was, again, a very rewarding and enjoyable event for all who participated. Our club owes thanks to the Burke Lake Lions Club who helped fund the Rallye again this year. Thanks, also, to the Columbia Lighthouse staff and volunteers for bringing their members out for the event and helping us to make this event run smoothly. And last but far from least, thanks to our club members who brought their cars to the event and to all members, friends and spouses who volunteered their time to man the start line and check point, to guide the Lighthouse van from the Metro station to the Rallye site, to help with set-up and clean-up activities, to organize and serve the picnic fare, and to generally represent our club during the most worthwhile event on our activities calendar, the Braille Rallye. Next year will be the 47th annual Rallye. See you then!
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