[Cinci-nfb] Minutes of February 2016 Chapter Meeting

Thu Mar 24 02:25:59 UTC 2016

The following are the minutes from the Chapter meeting held on February 27,
2016. The February 2016 report of the Recreation Committee, written by Kim
and Annie McEachirn, is included below in its entirety.

National Federation of the Blind of Cincinnati

Meeting Minutes for February 2016

1.       The February meeting of the Cincinnati Chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind was convened by President Deborah Kendrick at
approximately 2:15 P.M. on Saturday February 27 at the Washington Platform
Restaurant in Downtown Cincinnati. Members in Attendance were: Deborah
Kendrick, Christopher Sabine, Bill Innis, Karren Innis, Rachel Kuntz, Mike
Kuntz, Lisa Hall, Judy Rudig, Lilly Pennington, Emily Pennington, Alan
Lemly, Paul Dressell, Kim McEachirn, Annie McEachirn Carson and Paul Jordan.
Special welcome was given to Paul Dressell, who attended his first meeting
after being absent for several months for medical reasons, and Alan Lemly,
who traveled from out-of-state to attend today's meeting.

2.       The "mini-blind" for this month was a discussion of favorite
alternative techniques of blindness.

3.       Rachel Kuntz moved to approve the January 2016 meeting minutes;
Judy Rudig seconded. The motion passed.

4.       Emily Pennington presented the February treasurer's report. Paul
Jordan moved to accept the report; Rachel Kuntz Seconded. The motion passed.

5.       Deborah reported that she received an update prior to the meeting
from Rose Sloan from the NFB National Office that Ms. Sloan met with Chris
Hess, Aide to Congressman Steve Chabot, Concerning H. R. 188, The Transition
to Integrated and Meaningful Employment Act. Ms. Sloan reported that the
meeting was positive, and Deborah wrote an email message to MR. Hess to
request that Rep. Chabot co-sponsor this legislation. Deborah indicated that
Eric Duffy posted a message concerning this to several NFB lists-possibly to
Ohio-Talk. Deborah also expressed that immediate support is needed for H.R.
2264, which would grant veterans deemed permanently and totally disabled
space available access to aircraft on a par with retired military personnel.
Deborah reported that she would send an email concerning H.R. 2264 to the
Chapter Listserv following the meeting and indicated that National Office
has asked all members to email Mr. Hess immediately concerning H.R. 2264 and
H.R. 188; a vote on H.R. 2264 is reportedly scheduled for next week. Mr.
Hess's email address is chris.hess at mail.house.gov.

6.       Rachel gave her report on the Washington Seminar. Rachel indicated
that Seminar activities were conducted under a modified schedule, as most
Congressional Representatives were out due to the blizzard affecting
Washington D.C. Other activities, including the mock legislative session and
the Congressional Reception, were also cancelled.

Despite this, Rachel indicated that she was able to attend meetings with a
variety of Congressional staffers with other Ohio Federationists-including
Barbara Pierce, J.W. Smith and Jordy Stringer.  This was reportedly her
first Washington Seminar. She expressed that highlights of her trip included
a photo opportunity with Sen. Sherrod Brown and a very productive meeting
with J.W. Smith and Rep. Jim Renacci. This meeting ultimately led to Rep.
Renacci's co-sponsorship of H. R. 2264.

7.       Deborah shared some information of interest from her recent trip to
the quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors of Guide Dogs for the blind
in San Francisco. She indicated that Disney has released a new free app for
IOS and Android Devices. The Movies Anywhere App provides instant audio
description for a list of supported movies. When the app is running and a
supported movie is playing-either on a DVD or in a theater-the app will
automatically sync with the movie and provide audio description. Deborah
reported that the app currently supports sixteen Movies produced by Disney
and Pixar.

8.       Committee Reports

a.       Fund Raising:

Deborah indicated that the Chapter is currently seeking a new chair of the
fund raising committee. She asked that anyone who is interested or knows of
someone who is to contact her immediately.

b.      Recreation:

Kim McEachirn presented the Recreation Committee Report. This report,
written by Kim and Annie McEachirn, is being distributed with these minutes.

The Book Club had its first meeting and is looking forward to a second. The
Laterza Coffee Tour was a huge success, and plans are underway for a May 7
tour of Spring Grove Cemetery.

Judy Rudig presented a motion that a food / clothing drive benefitting a
local non-profit organization in Greater Cincinnati become a permanent
fixture in the Chapter's Holiday Celebrations. Emily Pennington seconded,
and the motion passed without further discussion.

Christopher Sabine asked a question about who should keep the receipts from
last year's Food / Clothing Drive, which Walter Mitchell gave him at the
January Meeting. Deborah responded that this is the Treasurer's
responsibility. Deborah also asked Emily Pennington to contact Eric Duffy
and determine if the Chapter needs to complete 990 Forms and provide
receipts to the IRS or the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Christopher
indicated that he will send the receipt from the Food / Clothing Drive to
Emily.

Deborah asked about the annual picnic. Kim reported that the Recreation
Committee has not technically begun planning discussions, as an issue was
brought to its attention which is still being investigated. 

c.       Membership:

Christopher Sabine gave the report of the Membership Committee. The group
met twice by phone conference: once on February 1 at 7:00 P.M. and again on
February 8 at 7:00 P.M. The topic of both meetings was the National
Federation of the Blind of Cincinnati Facebook Page. The primary purpose of
the Facebook Page is to disseminate information about Chapter activities and
ultimately recruit new members. The Committee agreed to share link to the
page with The Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
(CABVI), the Clovernook Center and the Ohio-Talk Listserv. Deborah has
submitted the link to John Mitchell, CABVI's Executive Director; Lisa has
reached out to her contacts at the Clovernook Center. Christopher has
submitted a link to the Ohio-Talk listserv as well as a separate email
explaining how members can invite their friends on Facebook to like the
page.

As of this meeting, the Facebook page has 21 new likes for a total of 37
likes. These came as a direct result of sharing the link with CABVI and
Ohio-Talk as well as page invites. Deborah reported that John Mitchell

Has shared a link to the Chapter's Facebook Page on CABVI's page and sent an
email to all staff encouraging them to like the page.

9.       Rachel Kuntz raised a concern that the next Chapter meeting might
be held on Easter Weekend, as meetings are usually held on the fourth
Saturday of the month. The Chapter voted to hold its next meeting on
Saturday, March 26 despite this.

10.  Deborah presented one item for auction: a print copy of Business Owners
who are blind or Visually Impaired, written by Deborah Kendrick and
published in 1999 by AFB Press.

11.          The meeting was adjourned at approximately 3:30 P.M. on
Saturday February 27, 2016.

Respectfully Submitted

Christopher Sabine

The Recreation Committee Meeting as reported by Kim McEachirn:

The Cincinnati NFB chapter recreation committee met on Thursday, February
25, 2016 by phone conference from 7:00 to 8:30 P.M. with Kim McEachirn
presiding.    In attendance were the following persons:

Walter Mitchell, Deanna Lewis, Judy Rudig, Annie McEachirn Carson and Kim
McEachirn.  Topics discussed included:

1.        The book club met on February 11th by conference call under the
direction of Annie McEachirn Carson, for the first book discussion which was
on "The Nightingale," by Kristin Hannah.  It was reported that all of the
members had agreed that "The Nightingale," was a fascinating, heart-warming
and passionate book about two sisters and their different choices which
shaped the direction of their lives.  A drawing was held to select the March
discussion leader who would be responsible for informing the group of the
next book to be read.  Chris Sabin, who was chosen to lead the discussion on
March 10th instructed the group to read the book "Nineteen Minutes," by Jodi
Picoult.

There was a question about when and how often members could join the book
club.  Annie reported that some initial guidelines by the mini committee had
been set up prior to the January book discussion such as the January 15th
deadline for joining with a six months commitment in mind and consideration
of the group size not to exceed ten people.  Deanna asked that we reconsider
people joining any month if they wanted to do so.  Annie said some thought
would be given to Deanna's concern, and this issue would be revisited.

2.        The LaTerza Coffee shop tour occurred on February 20, 2016 with
approximately ten attendees (nine NFB chapter members and one guest).  From
the planting of the seed to entering the coffee cup, the fascinating inner
workings of this microbrewery was presented to the group.  The tour
experience included coffee tastings, an in-house "NFB" roasting, and
concluded with a leisurely setting where all enjoyed their favorite coffee
along with seven-up cake and pumpkin crisp provided by Walter and Annie.  An
article, written by Annie, and pictures with descriptive labels from Rachel
will be submitted for the Cincinnati NFB chapter Facebook page and also both
will be sent out to the list.

3.       Spring Grove Cemetery tour has been rescheduled for Saturday, May
7, 2016.  Annie has been in contact with the special events coordinator and
all of the details of the tour have been worked out.  Information regarding
the tour will be sent to the list, soon.

4.        The Christmas food/clothing drive, (originally suggested by Annie)
was such a success that the committee agreed to have this humanitarian
effort become a permanent part of our holiday celebration.  A motion by Judy
Rudig will be made to the chapter at large for consideration.

5.       New ideas will be entertained at the March meeting.

6.        There was a closing prayer, and the meeting adjourned at 8:30.

Kim McEachirn, Co-chairman

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