CAPE COUNTY PARK NOW HAS WALKING TRAIL FOR THE BLIND

A walking trail outfitted for the blind will be dedicated Tuesday at Cape County Park.

The Cape Girardeau noon and evening Lion's clubs will hold a dedication ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the trail, located near Shelter 22 in Cape County Park South. The Lion's district governor and others will attend the event.

The event is open to the public.

"We're excited about it because I don't think there's anything else like it in this area," said Mary Estes, district public relations chairperson for the Evening Lion's Club. She said the clubs raised funding for the project because it coincides with their mission of providing assistance to people with limited sight and hearing.

The quarter-mile trail is handicapped-accessible and features a rope path. Periodic knots in the rope alert walkers of signs detailing the surrounding trees and the landscape that are printed in Braille, a system of touch reading and writing for blind persons in which raised dots represent the letters of the alphabet.

The rope path and signs were installed by Matthew Taylor, 14, as a project that helped him earn the rank of Eagle Scout. Taylor is the son of Allen and Laurie Taylor, both Lion's Club members, of Cape Girardeau.

"It was pretty hard," Taylor said. "I learned how helpful it is for them to have the signs that go through the trail."