Gallery: An unforgettable experience for an incredible cause
The evening was set around raising awareness about blindness and giving people more information about how to get early treatment for visual impairment.
Tzaneen Lion’s Club held a ‘Dine in the dark’ dinner evening recently at the Arbor Park Lodge.
Lion Martin Froise gave an opening welcome to the guests and he was also the MC of the function, giving a brief insight as to what the function was all about.
“We that have the gift of sight, often take it for granted. The aim of this dinner is to try to understand, how it must be without sight. There will be a six course plated meal, with wine paring on every course. You will be asked to put your blind fold on while the meal is plated and while you are eating. You will be asked to remove it after eating, when the plates are removed. If you need assistance while blind folded, put up your hand and a waiter close to you will assist you,” Froise stated.
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Once everyone was seated, Froise introduced the first guest speaker, a former Merensky High School student who was once involved in a tragic car accident that resulted in her becoming visually impaired, Celest van Staaden.
“I woke up in a hospital, thinking I had only been there overnight just to find out that I had been there for over two months and all I could see was pitchblack,” Celest opened up to the crowd as they sat around their tables with their blindfolds on.
She continued to share experiences she has had since having come out of the hospital and having to learn a new routine around her life.
“I have come to accept the way things are now and I am very much okay with that. I mean, I have gotten used to things and I now know how to get around too. But I still mistake the juice box for the milk box and I end up putting juice in my coffee,” she shared jokingly with the crowd. Also as a guest speaker, but much rather soothing the guests with his melodic voice, was HW Helberg.
The evening was, as Lion Martin Froise had introduced to the people, a night of raising awareness about the blind and that’s when project chairperson of Operation Bright-sight, Lion Bernard Froise, gave his speech about the project and what it entails.
“Bright sight is another program where Lions collect and recycle glasses with the help of local optometrists.
The glasses are sent to Brightsight laboratory in Benoni where the frames are reused, scripts from eye tests done by optometrists are sent to the laboratory where new lenses are fitted to existing frames and many people now have glasses that initially could not afford them,” he explained to the crowd after giving a brief history on where the white cane used by blind people originated from.
Speaking on behalf of the Lions Club, Lion President Rodney Sabatier, spoke on the rating that the club holds in terms of being able to help communities.
“Lions are rated as the number one service organisation in the world to support because the President of the Lions Club gets nothing and the International President also receives nothing. His costs are covered, but he receives no salary. Every single cent raised by Lions Clubs for Projects, goes to charity,” he explained.
The evening went on in clashing of cutlery, laughter and guessing of the ingredients used to make some of the dishes.
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Just before closing, the Chefs, Lion Phillippe Buyst and Lion Brenda Lubbe told the guests what each meal contained and how some of the meals were made.
Chef Lion Phillippe Buyst even went as far as bidding on a dish as it had a rare ingredient used to make it.
The night ended with Lion Christa Koekemoer giving a heartfelt and emotional thank you speech to the people who helped her make the evening a success.
See gallery below:
