Area Deaf Community Hopes to Re-establish Deaf Club

MERCER, WI - Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - Recently Deaf Services of America (DSA) introduced two area deaf people. DSA volunteers brought Ironwood resident Deb Ritchie to meet long-time Mercer resident June Popko in her Mercer home. June and Deb, despite their age differences, quickly became friends and they had a very enjoyable visit.

Deb recently moved to Ironwood from Iron Mountain, but her home town is Iron River, Michigan. June has lived in Mercer for years. She and her late husband both worked at the former Simpson Electric Company in Mercer prior to retiring. June is very active in the Mercer community. She has volunteered her time at the Senior Citizens Center for years.

June and Deb visited for several hours. June was surprised to learn of all the new technology that is available to deaf people. Debbie showed June her cell phone and June was impressed that deaf people are now able to communicate with hearing people via texting. DSA is looking into the possibility of providing June with a new video phone (VP). New video phones are available to the deaf free of charge, but they require the use of a high speed Internet connection. If high speed Internet is available in Mercer, June should be able to get a new VP soon.

Video phones are the latest technology for the deaf. Deaf VP customers can call each other directly and sign -- in real time -- to one another. They are each assigned a permanent telephone number and a toll free relay number. There is no charge for the VP service, however, the customer needs to pay for the Internet connection. When hearing people wish to contact deaf customers, or vice versa, they go through a VP relay operator who signs what the hearing people are saying. The deaf customer signs back to the VP relay operator and he/she says what is being signed.

June's good friend, Inez Sisko, lives in Ironwood. They each have TTY's, however, calling each other on the text telephones is costly. Long distance charges are applied and communicating via TTY is slow and cumbersome. DSA hopes to provide both clients with new VP's so they can easily visit one another as often as they wish.

Being deaf in a rural area is often a very lonely experience. New technology, like video phones and texting cell phones, can improve the situation greatly.

During their visit, Deb and June discussed the possibility of holding deaf club meetings on a regular basis. DSA previously hosted such meetings, but many of Ironwood's deaf community either moved or passed away. The meetings used to be held at the Knight Club Billiards and Arcade in downtown Ironwood. DSA will be working with area deaf and hearing impaired individuals to reorganize a new deaf club in the area.

Collectively, there is a relatively sizable deaf community between Ironwood, Hurley,  Bessemer, Wakefield, Watersmeet, Mercer, Manitowish Waters, Winchester, Arbor Vitae, Woodruff and Minocqua. Regular meetings help to remove the isolation that many deaf people feel in a "hearing" world.

The Chronicle will feature articles on the new deaf club as it comes together.