Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991 TAG: 9104030030
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOE KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"Shanon can do this," she said to herself, referring to her son, who is developmentally disabled.
That was more than three years ago. Now, Shanon, 13, and some 65 other people with mental and/or physical disabilities are completing their third season of the You Lite Up My Life Bowling League, thanks to his mother's idea and the help of other parents, relatives, friends and volunteers.
Just about every Saturday afternoon from September to the end of April, bowlers ranging from ages 4 to 69 show that they can, indeed, do that and a lot more. The league is a grass-roots supplement to existing programs and a training ground for those interested in bowling in the Area 8 Special Olympics, which covers Roanoke city and county, Botetourt, Craig and Franklin counties and the city of Salem.
"I get a lot out of it - not only exercise, but socialization with other people with disabilities," said Rich Boehler, a 48-year-old man who was disabled by a stroke in 1976.
When Smith and her friends began to pursue this idea, they quickly found an ally in Garnett Wickline, the lanes' general manager. For 18 years Wickline has taught people with disabilities in her Sunday school class at Grandin Court Baptist Church.
And for more than 20 years, Viking has served a blind bowlers' league. Four teams participate each Tuesday night.
The two leagues prove that everybody can bowl, Wickline said, including the disabled.
"I think they need to have a place to go and have fun and get out. I'm real proud of them."
The majority of the You Lite Up My Life participants are developmentally disabled to some degree. Some are physically disabled, and some have both physical and mental handicaps.
Delton Edwards, 32, has been in a wheelchair since an auto accident in Texas 5 1/2 years ago. He has bowled in the league for two seasons.
"I look forward to coming every Saturday," said Edwards, who uses a metal ramp, built by Smith's father, to send the ball down the lane. "My high game this year is 159. But I've done worse."
Cindy Shelor was watching her son Ryan, who has cerebral palsy, bowl from his wheelchair with help from his brother, Jonathan, 7.
"He loves it," she said. He also loved playing baseball last season on a team with other disabled people.
Greg Sarvay, 22, has been bowling in the league from the beginning.
Greg, a 1987 graduate of Patrick Henry High School, has cerebral palsy and is developmentally disabled. He works at ARC-CHD Industries in Roanoke.
"He started with about a 60 average and this year his high game is 181 or 187," his mother, Betty Sarvay, said. "He's come quite a ways."
The organizers think their league was the first of its kind in the state, though they don't know for sure. They have been told that two others have been begun elsewhere in the state, said Barbara Bouldin, whose son John, 16, participates. He has Down's Syndrome.
People with disabilities need "more activities no matter what they are, at a convenient time," said Marvin Case. He was watching his son Arthur, 33, who has cerebral palsy and whose enjoyment of the sport is apparent.
That need was emphasized time after time.
The Roanoke County Department of Parks and Recreation provides activities and some sports through its Therapeutic Recreation Services, supervised by Betsy Dennis.
The program operates under contract with Mental Health Services of Roanoke Valley and in cooperation with the Roanoke City parks and recreation department, which provides some money as well as the use of some city facilities. Salem's recreation department also has been involved from time to time.
The county offers about 27 programs per quarter for people with visual impairments, developmental disabilities, head injuries and psychiatric disabilities.
The physically disabled also may participate, said Ed McGrath of the Counseling and Life Skills Center at Mental Health Services.
The therapeutic recreation programs "are designed for individuals at the trainable level," Dennis said. "We try to integrate those with higher potentials" into the regular programming. (The city rec department does, too, said Gary Fenton, its manager.)
"The playground program is the only one for individuals with severe or profound mental retardation," Dennis said.
McGrath said no firm figure exists for the number of people with disabilities in the Roanoke Valley. Generally, 3 percent of the population is given as the rate of incidence of mental retardation. That would mean the valley has about 6,800 mentally retarded people.
"There's a wide range of disabilities that are not included in that count," McGrath said. "Spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, other types of physical disabilities, congenital limb deficiencies, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and those kinds of disabling diseases."
He said Mental Health Services stresses integration of the disabled into regular activity programs whenever possible. But, he said, the You Lite Up My Life league is distinctive for its grass-roots organization and is "a great idea for those who don't have access to other options."
Nerissa Smith said Shanon chooses both - a junior league team and the You Lite Up My Life league.
She said the league constantly struggles to find money to keep going and transportation for participants.
"We would have a full house if we had the transportation," she said. "There are a lot more mentally retarded and handicapped people than anybody realizes."
Some bowlers live with their families. Some live in adult homes and some live independently.
Smith said she knew of 12 people who needed rides from Northwest Roanoke that day.
The transportation problem seemed solved when a man offered an old school bus at a good price for the league's use. But the prospect of high insurance fees cancelled the deal.
Smith and her colleagues will keep plugging. After all, they are surrounded by examples of persistence.
As a child, Rainelle Johnson had mumps, measles and encephalitis, said her mother, Ruth Johnson, a domestic worker. Rainelle was blind for a time, is mentally retarded and didn't walk until she was 8 years old.
"The doctors told me she'd never be no good to anybody, or to herself," her mother said.
Now Rainelle, 36, walks, sees and bowls in the league every week.
"She really enjoys it," her mother said. "When this came about, I thought it was really wonderful."
by CNB