Story by Joe Vinduska
Easter egg hunts are an exciting part of the spring holiday that provide fun and excitement for children, but for young people with visual impairments, these contests are more challenging to enjoy. Barton at Fort Leavenworth Music Instructor Colvin Hooser decided to do his part to make sure children with visual impairments can also enjoy Easter by building “Awesome Eggs” that emit sounds.
“My wife has been a teacher of the visually impaired for over 20 years, and in 2016, we saw a news story about the Missouri Bomb Squad building beeping Easter eggs for children with visual impairments, but there were no instructions as to how to do it,” he said. “Several years ago, I remembered the video and set out to find out how to build these beeping Easter eggs. I found one article on how to build them, and we went from there. I acquired my electronics-building skills from years of working in the music industry and installing and repairing instrument electronics.”
Hooser said the eggs are about $14 per egg if purchased online. He has a group of Army veteran friends that help him build the eggs for about $5 a piece, and they donate them to individual families that have been identified through teachers of the visually impaired from around the area. Hooser covers the cost for materials out of his own pocket.
“Easter egg hunts were a big part of my family’s celebrations,” he said. “Once I realized people with visual impairments are excluded from participating in that activity, I wanted to change that.”
For more information, please contact Hooser at [email protected] or (913) 684-9384, extension 771.