LEWISTON — The L-A Senior College Food for Thought series will present Eric Bellevance and his service dog, Ike, at noon Friday, Sept. 13. Bellevance will speak about Ike in a presentation to start the fall series.

The free public program will be held in Room 170, USM Lewiston-Auburn College, 51 Westminster St.

Bellevance is a lifelong resident of Lewiston-Auburn. He attended the University of Southern Maine and worked for the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles for 29 years. He has volunteered at Camp Sunshine in Casco for many years. He recently began volunteering at Central Maine Medical Center.

Bellevance has a disability that significantly impaired his mobility. He applied for and was matched with Ike in 2015. Ike assists him by retrieving dropped objects, opening and closing doors, manipulating light switches, barking on command when Bellevance needs assistance and other tasks.

Bellevance is regularly approached by people asking questions about service dogs. He was approached by a coworker a few years ago asking if he would be willing to speak about service dogs at the annual convention of the Maine Fair Association. He developed a presentation that educates people about what makes a service dog different from other dogs; state and federal laws and rules about the dogs; the rights and responsibilities of public access for teams and the places they may visit. Bellevance does his presentation free for civic groups, businesses or other interested parties. He can be contacted by email at Ikenme713@gmail.com.

For those who wish to have lunch, the cost is $8, and a reservation is required before noon Wednesday, Sept. 11. Food can also be purchased at the campus cafe. For lunch reservations, call 207-753-6510.

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