'Got to stay active.' Stark veteran, 79, embraces curling and skiing

LAKE TWP. − John Albrecht doesn't let his disability prevent him from staying super active. Being legally blind doesn't stop him from gliding down the slopes of Northeast Ohio.

Loss of his central vision also posed challenges when he curled for the first time recently. But he still stepped onto the ice and embraced the activity and had fun learning the rules. And the 79-year-old military veteran and Stark County resident has advice for others with disabilities who may be hesitant to try something new: "If you want to stay upright, you’ve got to stay active.

" Albrecht participated in the recent National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass Village, Colorado, for the fourth year. He was representing the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, where he's in the outpatient program at the facility's blind therapy center. Albrecht took part in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and curling.

"It was a lot of fun because the instructors explained the game," he said of curling at the Winter Sports Clinic. Instructors held each of Albrecht's arms while he wore a helmet. Curling is a team sport played on ice, where two teams take turns sliding a stone made of granite toward a target, according to the World Curling Federation.