It all started with a letter. Steven Ehrlich, a Deaf-Blind man who worked at the Lighthouse teaching other Deaf-Blind community members, sent a letter inviting friends and volunteers to a retreat specifically for Deaf-Blind adults. The retreat was held at the Red Barn Ranch in Auburn, Washington the summer of 1978.

Ken Sting, machine setup, remembers traveling to the retreat. "I got there in the evening because I had to fly from Michigan. I didn’t live in Seattle at the time."

"There I was with my cane at the airport, not quite sure what was going to happen next. It was late, I wasn’t sure if someone was going to pick me up or what. Someone came up to me and I wrote a note...so that person guided me." He continues, "I remember walking down that long terminal to get my bag. I’d never done this before, and lo and behold, someone came up to me and signed ‘Hello!’ It was [co-retreat organizer] Mike Hughes."

Ken headed to Red Barn to join twelve other Deaf-Blind individuals and sixteen volunteers in the very first Seattle Lighthouse Deaf-Blind retreat. Once he arrived, he discovered an environment set up especially to be accessible for Deaf-Blind people.

"The next morning, I was wondering where the dining hall was. I’d never been there before –– I’m a blind person, I’m using a cane. And again, lo and behold, a volunteer appeared and guided me to the little dining hall," Ken recalls. "Sometimes a volunteer would come help me with specific things like if there was an outing, if we were going somewhere. People who were fully blind had a volunteer with them everywhere all day long."

Linda Williamson, interpreting services supervisor, attended some of the early Red Barn retreats as a volunteer. "There was just one volunteer per Deaf-Blind person," she remembers. "I was matched with a Deaf-Blind person literally twenty-four hours a day. Later, we got better at adding rope-guides and providing orientation training so people could get around on their own." She remembers, "Some people, this was their first outing since losing their vision. They weren’t used to going on vacation or doing something like this as someone who is Deaf-Blind."

"Once [the retreat] happened, it was wildly successful because it gave Deaf-Blind people a chance to get together, network, and be in a totally accessible environment away from the daily struggle," Linda explains. "People didn’t have to worry about how to make themselves understood or how to get from point A to point B. They could just be on vacation and take advantage of being around other people in a similar situation. People started forming an identity. They started talking about being [culturally] Deaf-Blind as this community formed."

"Red Barn was small. There weren’t very many people who could go. It’s a small facility with a small camp,” Ken explains. “Pilgrim Firs was bigger. It had more cabins, it had more sleeping space so there could be more people there, but still some people would stay in tents. Seabeck is a very nice facility. It’s big and there are many buildings and houses. A lot of Deaf-Blind people can be there. A lot of SSPs can be there. You can really have this wonderful critical mass."

"I’ve been a regular at Seabeck since ’98," says Ken. "It’s been really great being there with a guide dog –– that’s been wonderful. I love that it’s so big. There are so many people and there’s so much to do!"

Ken adds, "It’s not just people from around this country. We’ve had Deaf-Blind people come from England, from Canada, and from other countries as well. So that is a very ­exciting and wonderful experience."

"I don’t know what else to say except that Seabeck is the best!" he concludes.

Interpretation Note: Ken’s comments were translated from ­American Sign Language (ASL) to English by certified interpreters skilled in tactile ASL.