This is a unique opportunity to learn new skills, make friends and help more folks in our community enjoy the bluegrass festival.
PineCone offers sighted guides for blind and low vision folks during the annual bluegrass festival in Raleigh. It’s part of our ongoing efforts to make our programs welcoming and accessible to all. Since this training program began in 2016 we’ve connected hundreds of volunteers with the skillset they need to serve as sighted guides for blind and low vision folks at the festival. No prior experience is necessary.
Trainings are led by local orientation and mobility specialist Claire Hakin, with assistance from longtime PineCone members and advocates John and Sandy DeLuca, community members who themselves have low vision. John currently serves on the board of Arts Access; Sandy is a “mostly retired” former teacher for blind and visually impaired students in Gaston County, Wake County, and the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh. She also worked as a children’s consultant for Services for the Blind (serving 34 counties in western NC) and as an adjunct professor in a teacher training program at NC Central. She also does some occasional Braille proofreading.
If you’ve been trained before, this will serve as a refresher, as well as an update about some elements and information unique to this year’s festival.
By participating in this training you agree to be available as a sighted guide volunteer during IBMA Bluegrass Live! powered by PNC September 29 & 30, 2023. We may also have opportunities for sighted guide volunteers during the IBMA business conference September 26 – 28. Volunteers are paired with festival-goers on an as needed basis.
For more information, contact Lynda Dawson at 919-664-8333 ext. 3, or lynda@pinecone.org.
Training is free to attend; registration is required for all participants; background checks may be required prior to volunteering.
Sighted guide volunteers that work during the festival will receive a volunteer t-shirt, free parking on the day of their shift and admission to the Bluegrass Ramble.
