Name Dropping | She knows what it’s like: Lindsay stands up for the disabled | News

RaeAnne Lindsay has never been one to shy away from showing her face when she saw the need.

The 2008 Fisher High School graduate, who has spent her entire life in a wheelchair, is a vocal advocate for handicap-accessible playgrounds.

Her actions have led to the construction of such playgrounds at Fisher Community Park, Fisher Grade School in LeRoy and “a few others that are in the planning stages,” she said.

Their efforts were noticed.

She was recently named “Ms. Wheelchair USA.”

“Fisher is very proud of her,” said village president Mike Bayler. “I congratulated her, as did many others.”

Lindsay used her commitment to inclusive playgrounds as a platform.

“Inclusive playgrounds are for everyone,” she said, noting that she visits schools and other public facilities to add such playgrounds. “I just feel like I need to reach out to a school or know someone at the school.”

“Sometimes they come to me,” she says, “for input. I’m always happy to talk about it.”

Her presentation to the Fisher Village Board was her first on this topic.

“I was super nervous about how they would react to it,” she said. “Luckily (elementary school principal Jake Palmer) was present at the council meeting and that helped pave the way for the inclusive playground there.”

Bayler said the council had an idea of ​​what the playground should look like, and Lindsay “asked if we would consider making our new playground inclusive so that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can enjoy it.”

“She and our two board members on the park committee brought some ideas and RaeAnne gave us her input,” Bayler said. “It’s become a beautiful park where everyone is welcome. I think it’s one of the nicest playgrounds in the entire county.”

“Without her help and that of her parents, it probably wouldn’t have become what it is.”

Palmer said the elementary school’s inclusive playground is currently being built.

He said Lindsay’s presentation to the board prompted him to recommend building an inclusive playground at the elementary school.

“We had some students who were wheelchair-bound, and we really wanted to incorporate that into our new playground,” Palmer said. “It has a big ramp. All of our children’s areas will be handicap accessible, with the exception of the slides.”

Palmer said the elementary school playground, like the community park, will have a rubber surface, replacing wood mulch that is not suitable for wheelchair use.

“RaeAnne definitely had an impact,” Palmer said. “It wasn’t a big undertaking for (the school board) because they saw the impact” at the community park.

“No one is more deserving of the title of Ms. Wheelchair USA,” Palmer said. “She is an incredible human being.”

The week-long pageant in Akron, Ohio, included a painting party on Monday at one of the pageant’s sponsors, the Giant Eagle grocery store.

Tuesday was spent signing autographs for a special magazine, with the CEO serving as a judge. The signed magazines were then auctioned off.

There was a fashion show on Wednesday and Thursday “was more of a practice day to prepare for the competition,” Lindsay said.

The judges interviewed the contestants on Friday, followed by a round table discussion. Contestants also answered random questions.

On Saturday, the number of participants was reduced to three and they had to give a marketing speech and answer further random questions from the jury.

In addition to being named Ms. Wheelchair USA, Lindsay received three other awards – Miss Congeniality, Continued Education and Social Media Award.

Lindsay said she met “a lot of great people.”

“They have some ambassadors – ladies who have taken part in the competition before.”

The participants became a kind of family to her. She also enjoyed meeting the judges and guest speakers.

“We have participated in various events, such as training sessions, or we have talked about different things across the country,” Lindsay said.

Lindsay, who holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Illinois, works virtually for Vanderbilt University and is responsible for a research study on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their disability.

“The ultimate goal is to develop an advocacy plan to educate families who want to learn more about 504 plans,” Lindsay said.

Lindsay became disabled when she contracted a virus at the age of 10 months.

“As far as I know, I am the youngest person in history to have this,” she said.

Lindsay now has a number of tasks to fulfill as Ms. Wheelchair USA. Her first performance is planned in Kansas City.

To commemorate the event, an open house was held at the Fisher Community Building on Sunday afternoon.

Ayla DeLeva was crowned Miss Tuscola last weekend. Also pictured are Little Miss Tuscola Lula Hallett, front left, and Junior Miss Tuscola Sofia Reifsteck, behind Hallett.

Flesor Family Confectionery (Flesor’s Candy Kitchen) has received a $30,000 grant from Peoples State Bank and Trust in cooperation with the Federal Home Loan Bank.

The funds will be used for extensive renovations of the historic company building in downtown Tuscola.

The grant was made possible through FHLB’s Community First Accelerate Grant Program.

Flesor’s Candy Kitchen is a downtown Tuscola landmark and nationally known, having been in business for over 100 years.

The multi-generational small business provides full-time jobs to community members and supplies groceries to Tuscola and Douglas County.

Representatives of Peoples Bank and Trust said that assisting Flesor’s in maintaining their (Coca-Cola) storefront will continue to bring much-needed tourist traffic to the community.”

Majority owner Devon Flesor Story said, “We are very grateful that Peoples Bank and Trust selected us for this grant to provide additional funding to our company. We have received numerous donations from customers and supporters of the project.

“The proceeds from this grant will support us with the construction project, ensure the continued employment of our employees and enable the continuation of our business for the next generation.”

Gibson City native Shane Upton now wears a star.

In the presence of Upton’s family, he was commissioned into the officer rank of brigadier general by General James Rainey, commander of the Army Futures Command.

The induction took place during a promotion ceremony on August 2 at The Summit at Redstone in Huntsville, Alabama.

Upton recalled the different phases of his military career: from his ROTC deployment in school to his ammunition officer training course at Redstone in 1997 to three deployments to Iraq and two to Afghanistan.

During one of his missions in Iraq, he met Rainey, who was a colonel at the time.

“It means a lot to me that someone I served in combat with would give me this assignment,” Upton said of Rainey.

Upton stressed the importance of family support and thanked his mother Judy and his late father Michael.

“Everything I learned about ethics I learned from you and Dad,” he said.

He also recognized his son Rylan, his daughter Langley and his wife Jennifer.

“To my best friend, partner and confidant: I am so grateful to have you on this journey with me,” he said.

Japanese Rotary Ambassador arrives

Nae Shimizu, a special ambassador for the Rotary Club of Champaign from Yanai, Japan, arrived in Champaign on August 5. She will spend a month with members of the Rotary club.

Spenser Eversole of Villa Grove is one of four students in the Doctor of Osteopathy program at Des Moines University of Medicine and Health Sciences who were recently selected for Osteopathic Manual Medicine Fellowships.

Students complete the one-year OMM Fellowship program in addition to the four-year osteopathy degree.

You will be selected to participate in the program based on your knowledge and skills in osteopathic manual medicine, a medicine used to treat structural and functional problems of the bones, joints, tissues and muscles of the body.

The Fellows care for patients with musculoskeletal disorders, teach first- and second-year osteopathic medical students, and conduct research in osteopathic manual medicine.

For the duration of their participation in the program, they will receive a partial tuition fee waiver and a monthly stipend.

Eversole earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from North Central College in Naperville.

He is a son of DeDe and Jason Eversole.