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<p>DALLAS &#8212; Mirabel the goat has silky hair &#8212; and hard horns.</p><p>Otis the pig has a coarser hide.</p><p>And they both like to snack on watermelon slices.</p><p>Those are just a few of the observations young people from the Camp Sight program for visually impaired teens made Thursday morning during a visit to the Blue Chip Animal Refuge &#8212; where dogs, cats, horses and other creatures contribute to a feast for the senses.</p><p>&#8220;You can feel the vibrations,&#8221; 15-year-old Raul Velez, of Hazleton, said as he carried a bowl of cut fruit past some large dogs, helping to trigger a loud chorus of barking and canine scrambling.</p><p>&#8220;That one dog smells like popcorn,&#8221; another youth said earlier as the group stroked and rubbed the bellies of smaller pups.</p><p>During the past two weeks of Camp Sight activities, sponsored by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind at no cost to the campers&#8217; families, participants got to know each other during a team-building event, honed their cooking skills, practiced soccer and basketball, fashioned arts and crafts and &#8212; best of all &#8212; some said they had the chance to steer an airplane.</p><p>&#8220;The pilot was right there,&#8221; Raina Long, 17, of Hunlock Creek, explained as she described dual controls in a plane that took off from the Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort and flew over &#8220;the (Mohegan Sun) Casino and the horse track and the (Susquehanna) River.&#8221;</p><p>Of course, the camp wasn&#8217;t all fun, games and flying. Some of the activities fell into the &#8220;chores&#8221; category &#8212; and the campers pitched right in at Blue Chip.</p><p>&#8220;At every good refuge, there&#8217;s a lot of garbage,&#8221; Blue Chip worker Cammie Anderson, of Duryea, said as willing volunteers pushed wheelbarrows full of garbage bags to the Dumpster and tossed them in.</p><p>Anthony Martin, 15, of Dallas, said he is used to taking out the trash at home. Brandon McPhillips, 15, of Mayfield, said he never experienced that particular task.</p><p>&#8220;You gotta do it, buddy,&#8221; Martin said as he helped McPhillips pull on a pair of latex gloves.</p><p>Martin &#8212; a dog fan who would like to be a chef &#8212; and McPhillips &#8212; a cat fancier who is planning a career in technology &#8212; said they hadn&#8217;t known each other before Camp Sight brought them together, but they&#8217;ve forged a bond at camp, with Martin, who has better vision, helping McPhillips make his way from one activity to another.</p><p>One of the goals of the Camp Sight summer program, as well as the InSight Kids Club that meets year-round, is to give visually impaired youth a chance to meet other people with similar challenges, Association for the Blind president Sara Peperno said last week.</p><p>On Thursday morning, one of the teens was excited to learn that one of the Blue Chip animals, a pit bull, shared a challenge with him.</p><p>&#8220;Brody is deaf!&#8221; Anthony Martin exclaimed. &#8220;And I&#8217;m deaf in one ear. He&#8217;s like me!&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Justin Battle pets Serena, a chihuahua held by Jaime Flynn, a volunteer at Blue Chip Animal Refuge in Dallas. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_bluechip5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Justin Battle pets Serena, a chihuahua held by Jaime Flynn, a volunteer at Blue Chip Animal Refuge in Dallas. </caption0><photoCredit0>Charlotte Bartizek | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_bluechip1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Anthony Martin, right, helps his friend, Brandon McPhillips, put on a pair of gloves before they help throw out some trash at Blue Chip Animal Rescue. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_bluechip1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Anthony Martin, right, helps his friend, Brandon McPhillips, put on a pair of gloves before they help throw out some trash at Blue Chip Animal Rescue. </caption1><photoCredit1>Charlotte Bartizek | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_bluechip3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Anthony Martin, center, of Dallas, guides the hand of his friend, Brandon McPhillips, left, of Mayfield, toward a dog at the Blue Chip Animal Refuge in Dallas so he can pet it. The youths were taking part in Camp Sight, a program for visually impaired youth that is sponsored by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_bluechip3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Anthony Martin, center, of Dallas, guides the hand of his friend, Brandon McPhillips, left, of Mayfield, toward a dog at the Blue Chip Animal Refuge in Dallas so he can pet it. The youths were taking part in Camp Sight, a program for visually impaired youth that is sponsored by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind. </caption2><photoCredit2>Charlotte Bartizek | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_bluechip2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Justin Battle, Raina Long, Raul Velez and Breean Kowalski get aquainted with a friendly goat named Mirabel at the Blue Chip Animal Refuge. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_bluechip2.jpg</photo3><caption3>Justin Battle, Raina Long, Raul Velez and Breean Kowalski get aquainted with a friendly goat named Mirabel at the Blue Chip Animal Refuge. </caption3><photoCredit3>Charlotte Bartizek | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Sight campers experience animal refuge