Blind Awareness Walk, Lunch in the Dark Set for Oct. 3 in Grapeland

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND — Diane Haws made her first blindness awareness walk alone. This year, she hopes a larger group will join her in Grapeland, where the walk will end with a new Lunch in the Dark at the Grapeland Senior Citizens Center.

“In 2017, I did the first walk by myself,” Haws said. She walked from Crockett to the library in Grapeland.

Haws began holding the walk annually in 2020. That year, her daughter-in-law, Twyla Ibarra, and two grandchildren walked with her. Her husband, Henry, and their son drove along the route to keep an eye on the group, while police officers and firefighters escorted the walkers.

“It grew the next year,” Haws said. “In 2025, we had 31 people. And we’re expecting a lot more.”

This year’s walk is set for Saturday, Oct. 3. Registration begins at 9 a.m. at the Grapeland Senior Citizens Center, 112 Church St., and the walk starts at 10 a.m. For the first time, the center will serve as both the starting point and the finish.

“We will walk to the park, make two laps in the park and then walk back to the center,” Haws said.

The change brings Haws’ walk together with a fundraiser organized by the center and the Grapeland Noon Lions Club. Lions Club member Karen Senkowsky approached the center about holding an event for blindness awareness, Henry Haws said, and the groups invited Diane to begin and end her walk there.

Diane said the addition of Lunch in the Dark gives people another way to take part in the day. Guests will be seated and given blindfolds before their meals are served. Organizers will first explain how the lunch will work, and volunteers will be available to help at the tables.

“They will give instructions on how to eat blind,” Diane said. She expects the experience may bring a few surprises for diners. “There’s probably going to be some action there with some spillage and stuff, but that’s OK. That’s what it’s for.”

Henry, a Lions Club member who also serves on the center’s board, said doors will open at 11:30 a.m. so guests can look over silent auction items. Lunch is scheduled for noon, after the walkers return. Plates are $10 each, or a table for six can be reserved for $50. Proceeds from the lunch will benefit the Lions Club and the senior center. There will also be a vision screening.

The walk itself has no entrance fee, Diane said. She is selling light purple T-shirts for $20, with a design featuring a shirt, sunglasses and feet.

“The shirts are real cute,” she said. The design reads, “This Is My Walking Shirt.”

The money Diane raises through her walk efforts goes toward a goal she has pursued for years: establishing a school for people who are blind. She said she has kept the funds she receives in a separate account while she works out how to move the idea forward.

“My original plan was to eventually open up a blind school,” she said. A young couple from Crockett has recently joined her in exploring the project, including the cost, a business plan and how to organize it. “We realize that it is very expensive.”

The school remains a hope, but one growing more into a plan each year. For now, Diane is focused on bringing more walkers out on Oct. 3 and giving the community a chance to support the effort.

For information about the walk, call Diane at 903-373-4551. For lunch reservations or information, call 936-687-4712.

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]