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He joined a group of about 50 others on the Friendship Wagon Train from Red Wing to La Crescent, Minn.
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James Meacham, center, rides with Jim Malone, left, and Nathan Strandell on the Friendship Wagon Train in Winona yesterday. Meacham, 48, is blind but still rides with a little help from friends who guide him on both sides. The ride is used to raise money for Camp Winnebago in Caledonia, Wis., a camp for developmentally disabled children. (Photo by Paul Solberg/Winona Daily News) |
But Meacham is unique. He’s completely blind.
“That’s one of the reasons I came up here. I’m one of ’em,” he said referring to the people he’s raising money for.
The 48-year-old from Prattville, Ala., lost his eyesight in a 1978 hunting accident. He took a break from riding for 20 years but hopped back in the saddle during a hunting trip about seven years ago and hasn’t been able to stop riding since.
Meacham has ridden in a couple of wagon trains in Alabama, but this is his first year on the Friendship Wagon Train in Minnesota. On Wednesday, he and the other riders made their way through Winona County, stopping for the night in Wilson.
Meacham said the ride has a special significance, giving kids a chance to experience something they would never be able to without the help of the fundraisers.
“They can go swimming, canoeing, horseback riding and (do) other outdoor activities a normal kid could take for granted,” he said.
Camp Winnebago’s full line of activities includes arts and crafts, music, drama, sports, games and nature activities for children and adults from ages 6 to 70, said Theresa Burroughs, the camp’s executive director.
The charitable organization receives no federal, state or county funding and operates solely on donations. Burroughs said the wagon train is the largest donor, providing $30,000 to $35,000 every year for the past 15 years. That money helps about 150 campers pay the $850 fee for the weeklong excursion, she said.
“Without them, we don’t know how we would survive,” she said. “The Friendship Wagon Train gets a huge thank you for everything they’ve done for us.”
So far, the wagon drivers have raised more than $12,000 and continue seeking donations as they finish their trek to La Crescent on Friday.
Besides providing financial assistance to the campers, Meacham is giving them something else — a demonstration.
“Anybody with any kind of disability can do whatever they want,” he said. “You find a way to get it done.”
Meacham rides the roads and trails at a walk with the aide of two friends on either side, who keep him out of danger. They try to give him detailed descriptions of his surroundings at all times.
“Sometimes we don’t do a good job,” said Jim Malone, a fellow rider from Horton, Ala.. “We’re bad cameras.”
With help from his sighted friends, Meacham still hunts deer and elk both with a rifle and with a bow.
Knowing about Meacham’s blindness will help Winnebago campers feel good about themselves, Burroughs said.
“They’ll know that there is nothing they can’t do,” she said.
Meacham said he believes the fundraising will simply make children happy.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re disabled or not,” he said. “A smile is a smile.”
To help out
To learn more about Camp Winnebago or to donate, visit www.campwinnebago.org.
Kevin Behr can be reached at (507) 453-3524 or kevin.behr@lee.net
