The Independent – July 23, 2015
By William Geoghegan
SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Macular degeneration keeps Neil McCauley from seeing anything with clarity. Bob Magiera lost a good chunk of his eyesight to optic neuropathy. For Don Rego, it was Leber’s Disease. Doug Aldrich had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. For 14 years now, Fredericka Athanas’ eyesight has faded away. James Legare’s world is not completely dark, he says, but it’s miles away from crystal clear.
They all enjoy fishing. It’s different than it would have been years ago, different than it would be for the average person. They could say the same about everything in their lives.
The tug of a fish on the line, though, is not so different.
“It’s a lot tougher,” Legare said, “but the feel is all the same.”
It’s the moment when something catches, when you think you’ve got a bite, when you think maybe this is a big one. There is nothing to see, not for a while.
It’s the tug that matters.
At the Rhode Island Lions Sight Foundation VIP Fishing Tournament, it’s everything.
Now in its eighth year, the event welcomed three dozen people with visual impairments to Galilee Sunday morning. With guides by their side, they boarded the Lady Frances and set off.
For some, it was their first time on a boat, or their first time with a fishing rod in hand. For others, it was a return trip. For all of them, it was a chance to leave daily challenges firmly on shore.
“It has been a very uplifting thing,” said Ken Barthelemy, tournament director.
The program was born in 2008, when the Lions Sight Foundation ran with an idea that a counterpart had presented. Connecticut had started a fishing tournament for VIPs – visually impaired people – and was sending its winners to a quickly-growing national tournament in North Carolina. It was a unique opportunity for the participants and a chance for the foundation to expand its assistance. Rhode Island was on board.
“Connecticut introduced us to it,” said Jay Ward, immediate past president of the foundation. “I remember the meeting – we were in Portsmouth and as soon as we heard the idea, we said ‘Let’s do it.’”
Ten or 15 people signed up that first year. When they docked, they already wanted to come back. The event has grown every year since, with the total number of VIPs and guides stretching to near 70 this summer. Aboard Lady Frances Sunday, there was barely a spot on the rail to be had.
McCauley is 89 and has battled macular degeneration for years. He has been a regular at the tournament and caught 17 fish one year. His son, David, fishes alongside him as his guide.
“It’s really been a wonderful thing,” McCauley said.
Magiera is blind in one eye and has interference in the other. It’s going on 12 years now. He loves to fish but doesn’t often have the opportunity to do it. Sunday, he set up shop on the bow and reeled in fish after fish.
“I want to try to beat everybody,” he said with a laugh.
Rego sums up his hereditary vision loss by saying he “gets by.” Fishing off the stern, he caught a small shark in the first hour of the tournament. His friend and guide for the day, Gerard Perreault, was off to a good start, too.
“There’s nothing like being out on the water,” Rego said.
As the day went on, long, rolling swells rocked the boat and had even the hardiest fishermen feeling a little queasy. Aldrich, posted on the starboard side, kept on fishing. He was in the U.S. Navy and later served as a police officer for many years. His vision problems – which he traces back to a tick bite and the ensuing Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever – forced him into retirement, but he says he pushes onward. He walks four miles a day. He and his wife love traveling. The Department of Veterans Affairs hooked him up with the tournament, as it does for many veterans every year.
“I’ve had a great time,” he said.
Athanas, whose macular degeneration has gotten worse and worse over the years, wasn’t having much luck on her fishing pole Sunday.
“I’m catching a lot of seaweed,” she said.
She has always enjoyed fishing, though, and the camaraderie of the tournament is special. Late in the trip, a crew member brought over a fish for Athanas to touch.
Legare, a previous winner, hauled in fewer fish than he would have liked Sunday. He grew up fishing on a pond, so he’s no newbie. He used to kayak in whitewater rapids, but his vision limits him now. The tournament never fails to light the same spark.
“You want to get right back out here,” he said.
The tournament’s popularity is not surprising. At the very least, it’s a fun day on the water and a chance to fish, but it also can touch a deeper level. Barthelemy’s favorite story is of a fisherman named Elliott who has won the tournament in the past. He lost his eyesight as a result of a gunshot wound and had turned reclusive. Coaxed into signing up for the tournament, he turned out to be a natural.
“It was like having a pro on the boat,” Barthelemy said.
He won and headed to North Carolina for the national tournament. That, too, took some convincing, but it opened up a world.
“When we came back, we were unloading the car, and his wife said, ‘It’s been a lot of years since I’ve seen you smile so much,’” Barthelemy said.
The bite wasn’t great Sunday – not as good as usual – and the seasickness didn’t help. But with cries of “Fish On!” and measurements reported to Barthelemey on the top deck, the tournament’s big moments were as good as ever.
At the edge of the bow, Scott Surdat, a Narragansett Lions Club member with fishing rod in hand, smiled.
“People always say fishing is all feel,” he said, “and they’ve got more feel than me.”