[tabi] Re: congratulations to Owen McCaul
- From: "Sila Miller" <silam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2011 19:52:20 -0400
I too would like to congratulate Owen! Thank you, Chip for posting!
Sila
----- Original Message -----
From: Chip Orange
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 4:31 PM
Subject: [tabi] congratulations to Owen McCaul
I received this from a member of the blindness community, and since I've seen
no announcement from the Lighthouse, nor did they seem to get it included in
the article in today's Democrat covering the Dining in the Dark event, I
thought we should use this to congratulate Owen:
Congratulations to Owen McCaul - winner of
the Paula Bailey "Inspirational Community Member" Award!
OWEN McCAUL Wins the 2011 Paula Bailey "Inspirational Community
Member" Award!
This award is presented by the Lighthouse at the Paula Bailey Dining
in the Dark event (10/2/11) to an inspirational member of the
community.
.
Honoree's Name: Owen McCaul
Owen was born with High Myopia, more commonly referred to as
"nearsightedness". In simple terms, myopia is a condition of the eye
where the light that comes in does not directly focus on the retina
which is in the back of the eye. Because of this, the image that one
sees is out of focus when looking at a distant object but comes into
focus when looking at a close object. Additionally, Owen suffered an
eye injury when he was very young and developed Glaucoma, a group of
eye conditions that lead to damage to the optic nerve. In many cases,
this damage is due to increased pressure in the eye, also known as
intraocular pressure (IOP).
I first met Owen while we were attending Florida School for the Deaf
and Blind in St. Augustine in the early 80s. He was an honor student
and wrote for our student newspaper. His family lived in Melbourne but
Owen did not return home to be coddled or taken care of. Following his
high school graduation, he enrolled at Flagler College in St.
Augustine, where he maintained very good grades. Back then, Owen had
fairly good vision and only used glasses for reading and a monocular
for accessing information on the black board, street signs, and such.
He had great mobility skills, and would walk all over St. Augustine,
visiting friends and taking care of his business affairs. We'd have
long intellectual conversations which were quite beneficial for me in
learning about a wide array of subjects from the law to music to human
relationships.
Owen then came to Tallahassee where he attended Florida State Law
School. After graduating, he obtained a position with the State
Attorney's office where he has worked for approximately 22 years as an
Assistant State Attorney. You'll frequently see Owen using StarMetro
buses as he continues to travel independently throughout Tallahassee.
Owen is married and he and his wife, Erica have 2 beautiful children,
Tricia and Ian who are fast becoming informed and responsible junior
citizens. These days, as Owen's visual condition has worsened, he uses
adaptive software on his computer to make reading easier as well as a
portable CCTV for reading hard copy material.
Though Owen has never had perfect vision or been able to drive, it
hasn't stopped him from more than adequately providing for his family
and striving for excellence in serving in our judicial system and
community. He is an avid reader, keeping up with current affairs
through the newspaper and internet, involved and concerned with his
children's school environment, his community, church, and actively
serves the less fortunate. Owen tirelessly advocates for safe and
reliable public transportation and works hard to get honest answers
and bring out the sometimes unpopular truth.
Mr. McCaul's straight forward, no nonsense attitude and quest for
justice continues itself through his career with the State Attorney's
Office for the Second Judicial Circuit. Justice, fairness and
protecting his community are priorities for Owen. He has moved up the
professional ladder and currently holds a position as the Division
Chief of the Intake Division (equivalent to a Bureau Chief's position
with the State).
Owen is also a member of the Mason's, a fraternal organization well
known for their civic outreach projects. However, it wasn't just your
run-of-the-mill membership for Owen. He rose in the ranks and
currently holds a leadership role, again showing that vision is no
barrier to his ability to grow as a leader in the mostly sighted
world.
In late 2005, Mr. McCaul was appointed by the then Governor to the
Board of Trustees of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. In
2007, he was reappointed and continues to serve as a Board member. By
serving in this capacity, Owen has not only shown his willingness to
lead and advise, but has shown that he is willing to give back to the
organizations that have helped him learn and grow.
Owen is a family man, patron and friend of local business owners,
involved and informed citizen and caring human, truly an inspiration
to me! It is indeed an honor to submit Owen B. McCaul's name for this
prestigious award, named after the late, inspirational Ms. Bailey.
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