Today was Family Fun Day at Seton Catholic Church in Brighton and the event drew a Who’s Who of Deaf Rochesterians. Christy Smith of “Survivor” fame was a featured attraction along with David Justice (they leave on their worldwide tour next week).
Also on hand were Paul and Sally Taylor of the award-winning documentary “Hear and Now” and other VIPs including NTID boss Alan Hurwitz (with wife Vicki), Deaf Quote’s Gary Meyer, RCIL’s Dean DeRusso, RRCD President Steve DeBottis, Famous Blogger Barb DiGi and numerous others.
Family Fun Day featured a spaghetti luncheon, a variety of children’s games with prizes, booths of local organizations and a well-stocked silent auction with numerous bargains. Attendees also had the chance to create a Get Well card for Kevin Mowl, son of RSD Superintendent Harold and Mary Mowl, who is recovering in Maryland from wounds sustained in the Iraq war.
It was all for a good cause, being the third biennial fundraiser for Advocacy Services for Abused Deaf Victims.
Mark your calendar for the next one in 2009 and meanwhile click HERE or click below on View All Images to enjoy a slide show of 32 pictures from the day. (Photos by Tom Willard).
Also, I was experimenting with my camera’s video function and made these two videos as panorama views of Family Fun Day in progress …
Dave Justice, Christy Smith and Sen. Joseph E. Robach
Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007, Rowe Photo, Rochester, NY
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As noted in an earlier entry, Christy Smith (of TV’s “Survivor” fame) and Dave Justice held a kickoff event today to prepare for their departure from Rochester on October 17 for their Discovering Deaf Worlds adventure. The event was held 11 am to 2 pm today at Rowe Photo and attracted a good-sized crowd. The hosts provided pizza and pop and gave out door prizes to several lucky winners.
Speakers included Werner of South Africa, Yana and Yuliya of Russia, Daanijela of Yugoslavia, Minou of Japan and Vaibhav of India.
Christy and Dave were honored to have State Sen. Joseph E. Robach join the festivities. Sen. Robach, who made a few brief remarks, was instrumental in getting New York State to create the new Interagency Council for Services to Persons Who Are Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard-of-Hearing.
UPDATE: The Democrat and Chronicle ran a story Saturday about Christy and Dave. To see the article, click HERE. News 10 NBC also reported on Christy and Dave in a story that can be seen HERE.
It was a beautiful day for local deaf community members to participate in the International Day of Deaf People and Sign Languages. About 40 people took part in a rally and march on the NTID/RIT campus beginning 2 pm on Saturday, September 29. Participants were encouraged to wear black to show their support. Marchers met in front of the Gordon Field House for a moment of silence for those who have been deprived of sign language, followed by remarks by local deaf leaders. The group then walked east toward the residence area and through the NTID Frisina Quad, then onward to the main campus road and finally arriving back at the starting point, where more remarks were made.
Here is a slide show of 50 images from the march. Have fun enjoying them and feel free to leave comments.
