Thanks, Bruce. No, it was not the e-mail you forwarded but one that would have
been just after that one. Somebody was responding to Don's e-mail with the
article.
--
Larry Martin
Woodworking for the Blind
--joining the world of blind wood workers
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Brice Mijares" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> is this the one your speaking of?
> Don, you can get a hold of
> Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> and maybe he can get you the contact info.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 7:03 AM
> Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Home renovation not hindered by blindness
>
>
> > Don -- I just mistakenly deleted someone's response to this e-mail from
> > you before I read it. Is there any chance of getting that re-sent to me?
> >
> > --
> > Larry Martin
> > Woodworking for the Blind
> > --joining the world of blind wood workers
> >
> > -------------- Original message ----------------------
> > From: "Don" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >> If any one on list lives around this area, are knows of this guy, we
> >> would like
> >> to talk with this guy on the show. text follows. Don
> >> Home renovation not hindered by blindness
> >> By Heather Riedel
> >>
> >> "This house was one of the worst properties in the east side of Toledo
> >> and
> >> I'm going to take it to the best property," Ernie Berry said.
> >>
> >> Berry talks about the house he purchased last June as he stumbles around
> >> boards and scraps. He uses a cane because he doesn't want his guide dog,
> >> Calypso,
> >> to step on a nail or a sharp piece of wood.
> >>
> >> "When I'm by myself, I don't mind if I fall down," Berry said after
> >> catching
> >> his footing.
> >>
> >> Berry, who was born blind, is fixing up the 5,000-square-foot pale yellow
> >> house on Oswald Street, which was built in 1896. He said it used to be a
> >> "crack
> >> house with
> >>
> >> 22 people living in it at one time."
> >>
> >> Berry has never let his blindness deter him from hard work. He has two
> >> degrees from UT, is working toward a master's degree, was an intern in
> >> Washington,
> >> D.C., and has twice ran for political office.
> >>
> >> "I was born blind and no one knows why," the 22-year-old said. "The
> >> doctors
> >> never knew why. It's just one of those things."
> >>
> >> In addition to not being able to see what he's doing or where he's going,
> >> Berry has to walk with a cane, the aftermath of a neurological attack
> >> when
> >> he
> >> was 16.
> >>
> >> "I don't see anything as being difficult for me," he said. "I just have
> >> to
> >> do it. Giving up is not an option."
> >>
> >> The most difficult task while working on refurbishing the house was the
> >> demolition part, he said. It took nearly five months to clear the inside
> >> of
> >> the
> >> house. He said the work went faster because he did it himself.
> >>
> >> "I wasn't afraid of things falling on me because I couldn't have seen
> >> them
> >> anyway," Berry said. "If they hit me, they hit me."
> >>
> >> The house was in horrible shape when he bought it, he said.
> >>
> >> "It was foul-smelling and there were condoms and crack paraphernalia
> >> everywhere," he said.
> >>
> >> Now, the house is gutted and the only things in it are spider webs draped
> >> around wooden beams and some scraps on the floor. It is dark and drafty,
> >> because
> >> the heat has not been installed yet.
> >>
> >> Berry laughed as he recalled knocking down walls and clearing out the
> >> house,
> >> working well after the sun went down when the property would be dark
> >> inside.
> >> He remembers passing neighbors saying, "Hey Ernie, don't you want a light
> >> on
> >> in there?" or, "It's pretty dark in there."
> >>
> >> "What do I need a light for?" Berry said.
> >>
> >> The house will be a twin-plex that will emulate an Old West End style
> >> home,
> >> Berry said.
> >>
> >> "We're not stopping just because of the weather," Berry said. "We're a
> >> month
> >> ahead of schedule, but no corners will be cut. It's going to be a new
> >> home
> >> in an old building."
> >>
> >> Not busy enough
> >> Berry said he bought the house because he "needed something else" to work
> >> on
> >> and he wasn't busy enough.
> >>
> >> The project, to which he estimates he has devoted at least 1,500 hours of
> >> labor since June, is a hobby, he said, and it won't cut into the time he
> >> spends
> >> with other commitments during the week.
> >>
> >> One of those commitments is chess. Berry began playing chess at age 5 and
> >> won the Northwest Ohio Regional Chess Championship in 1998.
> >>
> >> "Everything in life, no matter what it is, is a chess game. You have to
> >> think ahead," he said while relating his metaphor to the house. "I can
> >> see
> >> the
> >> finished project and if I can get to the checkmate ahead of schedule, I
> >> will."
> >>
> >> Along with chess, weight lifting has become an important hobby. After he
> >> suffered from spastic paraplegia neuropathy, which caused his legs to
> >> spasm
> >> and
> >> confined him to a wheelchair, he worked to rehabilitate himself and was
> >> able
> >> to walk again. He said he was encouraged to lift weights to strengthen
> >> his
> >> body, but he didn't stop there. His motivation and competitive nature
> >> sent
> >> him to the National Bench Press Competition in Cleveland, where he placed
> >> fourth.
> >>
> >> Berry also mentors neighborhood children, ages kindergarten through high
> >> school, teaching them to play chess and training them in weight lifting.
> >>
> >> "I don't want to sacrifice the time I spend with mentoring these kids
> >> every
> >> week," Berry said. "I think one of the most important things is to be a
> >> role
> >> model to someone who looks up to you."
> >>
> >> Along with these hobbies, Berry works full time as the ADA coordinator
> >> for
> >> the City of Toledo, and is attending UT for his master's degree in public
> >> administration.
> >>
> >> "I love Toledo," Berry said. "Toledo is my home. People haven't said
> >> they'd
> >> entrust me with making governmental decision yet, but that doesn't stop
> >> me
> >> from fixing up Toledo one house at a time."
> >>
> >> Berry credits his parents, Pete and Becky, for his perseverance in his
> >> life
> >> and his love for his hometown.
> >>
> >> "We're proud of our city and we're going to try to take care of it," Pete
> >> Berry said. He has given some advice to Ernie about the refurbishing of
> >> the
> >> house,
> >> but said it's his son's project. "The neighbors are all glad because it
> >> was
> >> an eyesore, but now they see progress."
> >>
> >> "There are always two outlooks on life," Becky Berry said. "You have to
> >> find
> >> the good side and stay positive because the good seems to overtake. We
> >> live
> >> in this neighborhood and we want to keep it nice." Becky Berry said she
> >> is
> >> proud of her son for all his accomplishments and for trying to make his
> >> neighborhood
> >> a better place to live.
> >>
> >> Pete Berry added that when people ask him if he is proud of his son he
> >> says,
> >> 'I'm not proud of him, I'm inspired by him.'"
> >>
> >> With a supportive family behind him, Berry said, "There isn't anything I
> >> can't handle because I've proven to myself and others that I'm determined
> >> to
> >> do
> >> what I can for the city given my current situation.
> >>
> >> "I think to myself that even though people think it [the house] is,
> >> physically, too much for me, I have that motivation and it feels good
> >> going
> >> to sleep
> >> after a hard day's work."
> >>
> >> Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >>
> >>
> >> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > To listen to the show archives go to link
> > http://acbradio.org/handyman.html
> > or
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> >
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> > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday
> >
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> > http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml
> >
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> >
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