West Islander of the Year

BY MARC LALONDE

marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca

Pointe Claire retiree Alan Dean has an active volunteer and community life that has seen him president of many clubs, societies and advocacy organizations over the years. He organizes bus trips for seniors to go to concerts, theatre productions and other cultural events and even plays the piano to entertain peers every Wednesday afternoon. He finds time to e-mail notes of inspiration and humour to friends who may need cheering up the world over, and is a strong advocate for people living with disabilities.

And he does it all without being able to see.

That’s why Alan Dean is The Chronicle’s West Islander of the Year for 2006.

Dean, president of the West Island Low Vision Self Help Association, which meets weekly at St. John the Baptist Church in Pointe Claire, has the world at his fingertips through his computer, equipped with a JAWS system that reads correspondence to him and allows him to formulate responses. Dean has become a beacon of light for those who see little of it.

“I organize groups of seniors to go to theatre productions all over, I’m a past president and lifetime member of the Lakeshore Stamp Club,� said Dean, a philatelist whose passion for collecting had to be quenched slightly after he began losing his sight. He still collects stamps with Braille on them, though.

Once a week, Dean plays the piano and sings for members at the Montreal Association for the Blind and sits on the board of directors for the Quebec Federation for the Blind, and he’s president of an international study on postage stamps. The tireless Dean, who gets around with a white cane and with lots of help from wife Norma, is lobbying Canada Post to issue a stamp marking the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Association for the Blind, much as it did when Macdonald College celebrated its 100th anniversary.

It never ends for Dean, who works out of his home and lauds Pointe Claire for being proactive in responding to the needs of the handicapped.

“Pointe Claire installed signals with an

audible signal to let us know when it’s safe to cross,� he said, adding not every motorist gets the message.

“I was crossing Hymus Boulevard a few weeks ago near the Bank of Montreal and some (expletive deleted) stopped after the line and was parked right in the middle of the intersection. Then, when I banged into his fender, he yelled at me, even though he wasn’t supposed to be there. He called me every filthy name in the book,� he said.

The experience doesn’t sour him on the West Island and all its motorists, however.

“No, I think 99.9 per cent of the people I meet in the street are compassionate and willing to help,� he said. “I don’t just stay at home. From what I’ve been taught, I know how to take a bus, I can take the train and head out.�

Dean also speaks in area schools about being conscious of the blind and what it’s like to lose the power of sight.

“I talk to kids about it in the schools, because today, not a lot of people recognize the white cane or what it means. There are actually quite a few Canadians who don’t know what it means,� he said.

With three grown children and four grandchildren, Dean has no trouble keeping busy.

“They’re four of the greatest grandchildren in the whole world,� he said.

Beaconsfield resident Jane Pattison, who nominated Dean for the West Islander of the Year, said his enthusiasm and good nature are a great example for West Islanders who have lost their sight.

“He’s a real inspiration. I know a man who is blind and I got him hooked up with Alan, and he has helped him with a ton of resources. He’s just really great at picking people up when they’re down and he’s so incredibly involved. I don’t know half of the things he’s involved in. He’s such a giver. He absolutely goes above and beyond. He does so much work for the community,� Pattison said.

Dollard des Ormeaux resident Mary Dagg, a member of the Low Vision Self Help Association for the last few years, said Dean’s charisma and infectious enthusiasm make him a pleasure to be around.

“He’s wonderful,� she said. “He’s really friendly, really good at what he does. He’s such a strong advocate for the blind and gets around so much you’d hardly think he was blind. He’s just amazing, with all the marvelous work he does, getting people organized. He must have some sort of sixth sense,� said the 89-year-old.