Our Stars – Jacquie Sammon, A Special Person, A Star

By Joyce A. Rogers
May 3, 2011

Have you ever been in a position where skill, dedication, loyalty, and generosity were important and valued? If you are, or have been, a leader in an organization that depends primarily on volunteers as does The American Council of the Blind at the national, state, or local level, you know how important those qualities are in your members. We of the Ohio affiliate of the ACB (ACBO) are fortunate to have just such a member and volunteer in our local Greater Cincinnati Chapter (ACBOGCC). Her name is Jacquie Sammon, and I salute her for so many wonderful reasons.

Jacquie has been a dedicated teacher of reading for 35 years in public schools, the last eight of those years as a person with a visual impairment. Can you imagine facing a class of rambunctious children each day, children with all kinds of interests and needs, and motivating them, stimulating them, and challenging them to settle down and learn to read?

While teaching was her first career, volunteering for ACBO’s Greater Cincinnati Chapter, ACBOGCC, has become like her second career. Jacquie has been a member of ACBO and our local chapter, ACBOGCC, for nearly 20 years. For many years, hers was the cheerful voice members heard over the phone reminding them of monthly meetings. Then, she took on the task of chairing our Good Will Committee, which sends cards and gifts of remembrances to members on various occasions, including hospitalization or the death of a family member.

Jacquie also chaired our Grants Committee for many years, a rewarding effort that has given donations to worthy organizations, such as the Ohio Association of the Deaf-Blind, the Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Band, and Camp Campbell Gard, a camp for both blind and sighted children who play and learn together.

She has recently taken on the task of chairing our Innovations Committee, which brainstorms ideas on new activities and projects for our chapter, makes recommendations to the membership, and helps to develop some of those new endeavors.

I salute Jacquie Sammon: a delightful person to know, an exceptional volunteer for our local chapter, and a person of dedication and generosity of whom we ACB members can always be proud.

“I am a follower; I am not a leader,” said Jacquie when I interviewed her recently. Well, if all of us in ACB followed her lead, I believe our achievements would multiply a hundred–fold.