frontline ,,
'Citizens Canes'
Lifts Spirits
Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor
I
f I had to have a cane, I wanted it
to be fun," says Kathy Levy, 64, who
has suffered from back problems
since age 11 when she bent down to
pick up a dog and could not get back
up again. After more spinal surger-
ies over the last 30 years than anyone
should have to endure, Levy wears a
back support belt daily.
But that doesn't stop her from look-
ing stylish. As she walks along slowly
and deliberately, she leans on a color-
fully beaded cane she made herself.
She's been stopped and asked
about her canes so many times that
she decided to start a little business,
Citizens Canes, from her home in the
Claymore Apartments in Southfield.
"We all have to suffer with some-
thing," she says in her upbeat way. "I,
wanted to do something that would be
fun and not so depressing."
This is a woman already given to
entrepreneurial ventures. She came up
with an idea to sell the blank invita-
tions left over by invitation companies.
At one time, she had the rights in
Canada and the U.S. to sell these blank
invitations. She also ran Rated G, a
gift shop in the Claymoor that sold
gift ideas she came up, such as lunch
money envelopes for schoolchildren
and pads with tic-tac-toe games on
them. Friends still get gifts of person-
alized notepads and envelopes.
But now she's buying beads — plus
ribbon, twine and paint — and trans-
forming ordinary wooden canes into
eye-catching, sparkly works of art.
"I am unusually craft-minded:' she
says. "When I see a need for some-
thing, I go for it."
Her husband, Bob Levy, revels in her
enthusiasm.
"If I have a really bad day, I do my
artwork in bed:' she said, adding that
her Maltese, Daisy, sits on the bed and
keeps her company. "I've ruined many
sheets. In fact, my husband comes
home and asks me what I ruined
today."
Levy sells canes for men, plus spe-
cialty canes like those with hidden
umbrellas inside, but her be -aded canes
are for women. And she ensures they
fit the user perfectly because she mea-
sures each to the individual.
Cost is $200 a cane, which can be
tailored to colors chosen by the user.
She has made about 25 so far, with
each taking three to seven days to
complete. She says she picks a "cane of
the day" for her own use.
"People even bring me canes to fix
— there's nothing I can't do:' she says.
JN CONTENTS
Kathy Levy with some of her
decorated canes
"I just figure it out."
She has passed this can-do attitude
down to her daughter, Dana Brooks
Reinglass, a University of Michigan
graduate who set her sights on work-
ing for Oprah Winfrey. She has been
a co-executive producer at Harpo
Studios in Chicago for about 18 years.
"This year, I was not going to let
[my back] get to me:' Levy said. "It was
time I got back on the stick."
She started Citizens Canes, she says,
"because it's important for people not
to be afraid if they have to use a cane
or walker — and to feel good about
themselves."
And she should know.
❑
For more on Citizens Canes, call Kathy
Levy at (248) 350-0929 or email
Ratedg22@comcastnet.
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