Filming Tandem Bike Ride at Camp Tuhsmeheta

This past Memorial Day weekend was my first opportunity and the beginning of filming at Camp Tuhsmeheta, a very special camp near Grand Rapids for the blind, especially children.  My intention is to include Camp Tuhsmeheta in the film we are producing “Can You See How I See.”  On this weekend, we came up to film a special tandem bike ride session through the Fred Meijer trails.

The camp itself and what it stands for is “touch, smell, hear, taste” which is pretty amazing.  It gives blind children an opportunity to be themselves in an amazing 300-acre environment.  Unlike other camps that would accommodate a child that is blind, this camp was created especially for children that are blind.  It’s not an environment that coddles to their every need.  As Executive Director George Wurtzel put it “here, we are all blind and at the end of the day, we are still blind.”

So the philosophy is simple: fend for yourself and with the right amount of enthusiastic leadership for many of the counselors who are also blind, the campers rise to the occasion.  By the end of camp week, they have a new found sense of independence and accomplishment.  The tandem bike ride filming was nothing short of enlightening.  Many of these kids have never been on a bicycle.  The tandem bike ride service was provided by Programs to Educate All Cyclists (PEAC) of Ypsilanti.  They did a great job of managing all facets of preparing 20 people to ride together.

I look forward to more summer days at the camp, and continue to build my film about inspirational people like George who is doing wonderful things for children of our society who can’t see.  Stay tuned!