A new kind of civic club has sprung up in Andalusia, and the unique group is the result of the vision of several local residents, none of whom can actually see.

“We’re starting something innovative,” organizer Wanda Sasser-Scroggins said Wednesday at the regular meeting of the Andalusia Lions Club. “We’re staring a Lions Club for the visually impaired.”

Sasser-Scroggins, who is also involved with the Covington County Blind and Low Vision Outreach Group, as well as with the annual Extreme Experience Retreat at Blue Lake, said starting a Lions Club chapter for visually impaired people just made sense, considering the club’s worldwide commitment to helping people with little or no eyesight.

“This is going to be helpful to you too,” she told Andalusia Lions Club members. “This is a club that can give feedback about what people with sight problems require.”

So, how will a group of people with little to no vision manage to meet on a regular basis?

Sasser-Scroggins said the new club, dubbed the Andalusia VIP (visually impaired persons) Lions Club, will meet each Thursday at 6 p.m. in cyberspace.

“It’s a cyber club that uses a chat room and a phone line,” she said. “Which makes it neat, because people call in from everywhere, not just right here in Andalusia.”

Dirk Price, who is also assisting in organizing the club, said the group already has 17 of the 20 members needed to charter a new Lions Club, and is being supported and sponsored by Andalusia’s existing club.

“We have all but a handful of the people we need, and we have already chosen officers,” Price said Wednesday. “This club is wider regionally. So many visually impaired people have a problem with transportation. We may even get some people from out of state.”

Sasser-Scroggins said the chat-line format has been used before and has attracted callers from all over the nation.

Both Sasser-Scroggins and Price said anyone interested in joining the Andalusia VIP Lions Club can get started by calling in today at 6 p.m. at 218-936-2070 and following the prompts.