VLANJ Hosts Wine/Cheese Tasting During Blindness Awareness Month

Pulling learning shades over her eyes before sampling select wines and cheeses, Amy Bucco said the first thing she noticed was an immediate need to concentrate. Conversations throughout the room halted briefly, as sighted guests at Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey’s fundraiser cautiously lifted wine glasses to their lips.

“You really need to think about what you’re doing,” said Bucco, the wife of New Jersey Sen. Anthony M. Bucco.

The Buccos were among 60 guests to attend “A Four Senses Wine and Cheese Pairing,” held Oct. 28 at VLANJ’s Denville location. The nonprofit scaled back its signature annual event, Dining in the Dark, as a precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decked-out room glowed with flameless candles and string lights as volunteers poured the wines. Sommelier Giuseppe Fusco from Gary’s Wine & Marketplace described the wines’ colors to the eye-masked guests, and explained how to appreciate the smell, texture and taste. A sliced strawberry on each guest’s plate helped them orient the cheeses using clock positions.

Robert Trawinski of Morristown said he’s never short on words, but that changed when he put the black learning shades over his eyes. “I definitely was more talkative before the loss of vision,” he said. Amanda Feeley explained, “I felt like I really had to pay attention to what was going on, and filter out the noise.”

Guests heard from VLANJ participant David Berman, who shared how VLANJ has empowered him. “They don’t teach you how to be a blind person” but rather “how to adapt as a visually impaired person in a sighted world, built for sighted people,” he said.

Berman had the guests laughing as he described an upcoming ski trip in Colorado for people with vision loss. “I don’t know how that’s going to go,” he said, noting he broke a leg skiing when he had sight.

He surfed for the first time last summer. “I couldn’t have done that without the can-do spirit that is taught here at VLANJ,” the father of two said. “There’s nothing holding me back because of my vision loss.”

VLANJ CEO Bill Schuldt said the nonprofit thrived during the pandemic, even adding new virtual programs and support groups for participants while in-person classes were halted. Virtual programming “enabled us to reach more people, primarily because transportation was no longer a barrier to services,” Schuldt said. VLANJ welcomed back participants to in-person living skills and wellness classes at its Denville and Ridgewood locations in September, with pandemic precautions in place.

To help develop mobility skills, VLANJ in October did an outing in downtown Denville, he said. Participants, with the support of mobility specialists, crossed streets, navigated sidewalks and entered businesses “to practice their self-advocacy skills,” Schuldt noted.

The VLANJ wine and cheese event highlighted how sighted people “can take for granted the simple things that become a huge obstacle for people with vision loss,” said Sen. Bucco, who lost sight in his right eye in 2010. “If it weren’t for places like VLANJ, people who have no place to turn for help.”

VLANJ Board of Trustees Chair Carl Augusto, who is blind, said society’s reaction to those with vision loss is in many ways the biggest hurdle. He told a humorous story about attending a national convention for the blind: the waitress at the hotel restaurant confided that Augusto “was her first [blind diner].”

“I’m very pleased with where VLANJ is today,” Augusto said, noting its loyal donors, devoted staff and volunteers, and committed participants. “We are certainly making a difference in the lives of the people we serve.”

The event was a first for Cathy Doherty and Jesse Barton of Teaneck. Doherty said her mother had macular degeneration and she was looking for a cause to support.

Drinking wine with eyes covered “was a challenge for me. I had to go slow,” she said. Barton flashed a big smile and said, “This was so much fun!”

Started in 1943, VLANJ is one of the state’s longest-serving nonprofits for adults who are blind or visually impaired. The organization builds participants’ independence and confidence, and creates a space for friendships to flourish. VLANJ also educates the wider community about the challenges of vision loss and how sighted people can serve as advocates.

Donations to VLANJ can be made online at vlanj.org/donations or by mailing a check to Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey, 155 Morris Ave., Suite 2, Denville, NJ 07834, ATTN: Vice President of Development and Communications Jennifer Singer. Contact Singer with questions at jsinger@vlanj.org or 973-627-0055, ext. 1323.

About Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey

Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey is a 501(c)(3) that provides practical training and emotional support to help those who have experienced profound vision loss regain self-esteem and self-reliance. Since its founding in 1943, Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey has used a holistic approach to empower those with profound vision loss to live engaged, productive and independent lives. Go to vlanj.org for more information.