Rick Boggess was not born blind, but has basically been blind since birth. As a premature baby he was placed in an incubator, but the excessive use of oxygen caused him to develop retinopathy of prematurity — the leading cause of blindness in the 1940s and ’50s.
Even though Boggess was blind, his parents did not treat him any differently growing up. He still rode a bike down dirt roads in his home state of West Virginia, and he used a stick to help him get around before ever getting his first cane.
After attending the West Virginia School for the Blind for 13 years, Boggess went off to Fairmont State College in 1973 and studied to become a secondary education teacher. The college was a regular school, and he went through the same programs as his sighted classmates.
After graduating in 1977, Boggess decided he wanted to teach visually impaired students, so he applied to graduate schools that offered the specific training he was looking for. He ended up in Nashville, Tenn., at George Peabody College for Teachers (which is now a part of Vanderbilt University). After a year, he earned his master’s degree and had three job offers.
Hours after graduation, he moved to Owensboro for his first and only “real job.”
“I graduated on Saturday morning and moved to Owensboro that afternoon,” Boggess said. “I went to work the next week. I worked a few odd jobs in college, but that was my only real job. I guess I liked it since I stuck around all that time.”
Boggess ended up working for both the city and county school systems for 33 years as a teacher for visually impaired students.
“It was great — I really enjoyed my time in both school systems,” he said.
Since Boggess can’t drive, the administration usually tried to keep him at schools within the city limits, some even in walking distance of each other.
While Boggess taught students about visual efficiency skills, concept development, daily living skills, communication tips and vocational education, he was also responsible for getting braille materials and textbooks to students.
“I had to braille or enlarge worksheets, which took a tremendous amount a work,” he said. “I was staying up until 3 a.m. working.”
In 2011, Boggess retired from teaching had three things on his to-do list for post-teaching life — join the Owensboro Lions Club, start a support group for visually impaired adults and exercise more.
First up was joining the Lions Club, where he is a board member and helps with their newsletter.
“I really try to engage in as many activities as possible,” he said. “But they don’t let me drive for the soapbox derby.”
To fulfill his exercise, Boggess does a lot of walking. In 2012, he joined Anytime Fitness and said he enjoyed the small and quiet atmosphere. Once they went out of business, he started walking miles around his neighborhood.
“I wrestled in high school, and there is not a better feeling in the world than to be engaged in a hard workout,” he said. “As I get older I want to keep somewhat in shape.”
While the majority of Boggess’s life work had been with students, he knew after teaching he wanted to help visually impaired adults, so he started the Support Alliance of the Visually Impaired (SAVI).
“I knew that really the largest number of people losing their vision was older adults,” he said. “Sixty to seventy percent of the members in SAVI lost their vision later in life.”
In 2012, Boggess and his friend Bill Roberts started gathering people to talk about their challenges and needs.
“A worker at the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Blind Services Division started telling others about our meetings and so attendance grew,” Boggess said. “We’ve met every month since late 2013.”
Boggess said the group filed the necessary paperwork with the Kentucky Secretary of State and finally became a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
During their monthly meetings, they host guests who speak on various topics such as visually impaired voting, scams, emergency preparedness and fitness.
Boggess said this year the group has also started a regular series of workshops to help group members and others in the community. Workshop topics range from finding reading materials and accessibility features on iPhones to braille classes and crafts.
The group is also planning an outing to the new Malco theater to watch an audio described movie. SAVI is also trying to plan a signature bowling fundraiser where the community can come out and bowl blindfolded to raise money for the group.
While Boggess has been the president of the group since its inception, he is handing over the reins next week to Cheryl Lott.
“She will be a great president,” he said. “She is very interesting and brings a new perspective to the group having gone blind later in life. I have been mentally prepared for this transition since day one.”
If you or a family member has a vision problem, feel free to attend SAVI’s next meeting at 1 p.m. on Jan. 8 at Wing Avenue Baptist Church. Marc Arreson will share information about programs offered by the Hadley Institute for the Blind.
