ST. GEORGE – Red Rock Center for Independence is putting on its Community-wide Celebration of Americans with Disabilities on Tuesday, July 26, from 9-11 a.m. at Vernon Worthen Park, located at 300 E. 300 S., in St. George. The whole community is invited to join in this celebration of everything that people with disabilities have achieved for America.
The celebration will commemorate the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1990.
The event will feature several agencies which serve people with disabilities in the southern Utah area through booths highlighting their services.
Why celebrate? Imagine being a person with a disability and finding no curb cuts to get from sidewalk to sidewalk. What if you wanted to vote in the last election but couldn’t get into a booth or use the equipment? What if you went shopping only to find that you couldn’t get to the check out stand or had no accessible parking?
The keynote speaker for the event is retired Utah news anchor and TV personality Dick Nourse. Nourse will speak about his personal experiences with disability. His son Dayne, 15, was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease. Dayne may even join his father on stage to tell his own story, health permitting. Nourse’s wife Debi is also planning to attend the festivities.
Red Rock Center for Independence hopes the community will come out for this event and celebrate the results of advocacy that many people in history fought to gain.
Today, everyone benefits from having more accessible services and community resources. And many people with disabilities now have general access, the same as everyone else. These things did not happen overnight. They are the result of the blood, sweat and tears of people who were willing to fight the good fight, and these same rights are still being defended today.
The Center urges all to come out on July 26 and honor those people still advocating for the disabled and their predecessors, urging that together we can raise momentum for an even better future for everyone.