[Iabs-talk] the braille examiner fall 2008.doc
Connie J. Davis
condav8950 at att.net
Tue Dec 23 01:04:19 UTC 2008
Table of Contents
Contact information p. 2
Announcements p. 2
Presidential Report p. 2
Blackhawk Chapter Report p. 4
Chicago Chapter Report p. 5
Ferris Wheel Report p. 6
Kankakee Heartland Report p. 7
IABS Report p. 8
Scholarship Report p. 9
We Are Able p. 10
Finding My Voice p. 11
Meet A Federationist p. 13
In Memoriam p. 14
Larry Bickhem
Della Cook
Ed Provost
Mike Doris
Contact Information:
President: Patti Gregory-Chang, 773.307.6440, patti.chang at att.net
Editor: Connie J. Davis, 773.338.6922, condav8950 at att.net
Co-Editor: Deborah Kent Stein, 773.631.1093, dkent5817 at worldnet.att.net
Braille Edition: Carmen Dennis, 773.583.0899, carmen88 at comcast.net
Proofreaders: Patti Chang & Carmen Dennis,
Webmaster: Ruth Anne Wheeler, www.nfbofillinois.org
Newsline(r): David Meyer, 708.209.1767, datemeyer at sbcglobal.net
Announcements:
Articles should be submitted to Connie or Debbie via e-mail or snail mail.
Just a reminder, the newsletter only is available in electronic format or Braille. It is available on IL-talk, Iabs-talk, our website www.nfbofillinois.org or Newsline(r). You can also subscribe to the Braille edition by contacting Carmen Dennis.
Our thanks to all of our contributors for making this another good newsletter. It is the voice of many authors who make a publication successful and interesting. Anyone is welcome to contribute an article. If you would like help writing an article, contact Connie or Debbie.
The Newsletter Committee will hold a conference call meeting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 3, 2009. The meetings are open. Please call 712.580.7700 and use the code 6324.
Welcome to Nicole Gleason and Patrick Olson, who have recently joined the Newsletter Committee! We look forward to adding other new members to our committee.
And finally, Happy Holiday season to all from the Newsletter Committee.
PRESIDENTIAL REPORT
By Patti Gregory-Chang
Whenever I sit down to write a report about NFBI activities, I'm amazed by all of the things our affiliate is doing. Our many programs and initiatives are steadily gaining momentum.
Advocacy took a front seat over the past few months. We have worked on several Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings with parents, obtained services from the Office of Rehabilitation Services for students and others, helped a blind student attend cooking school, and worked with several people to obtain reasonable accommodations. Since all of these cases are confidential we cannot divulge details, but it is crucial that we continue this kind of behind-the-scenes work for and with individual blind people.
Our Renewal Committee worked with people in Quincy and Kankakee during this reporting period. In fact, one of our scholarship winners attended our tea in Kankakee. We plan to keep working with Quincy to see if we can reconstitute a chapter in that area.
The Press Committee sent out hundreds of e-mails and faxes regarding three NFBI events: our Senior Fair, Transitions Club, and state convention. The high attendance at each of these events speaks for the effort and commitment of everyone who worked on this committee.
This is the second issue of the Braille Examiner to come out in 2008. The variety of authors and topics keep this newsletter strong. Please feel free to submit articles and ideas to coeditors Debbie Stein and/or Connie Davis.
One of this year's most exciting developments is the addition of an information channel to NFB-Newsline(r) in Illinois. Reach it by pressing 2 at the main menu. Many blindness agencies and organizations post news items, and the number of contributors continues to grow.
Freedom Link, our transitions club for blind teens, is off to a great start. Mentors and students meet on the fourth Saturday of each month. So far we have worked with students on travel, shopping, and other confidence boosters. It means a lot to blind students when blind adults tell them that anything is possible.
This year we kicked off our state convention with our first ever Senior Fair to provide information to seniors who are facing vision loss. Over fifty senior citizens attended. The room was filled with exhibits, and the speakers were truly inspiring. On his way out one gentleman told me that he had "hope back in his life". When I hear words like these, I know that all our work is worthwhile.
Convention also gave us an opportunity to reach out to another important group - parents of blind children. For the first time in several years, we held a meeting for parents during the Saturday lunch break. The parents agreed to think about activities that might be of interest in the coming year. We expect to hear much more from them in the months ahead.
We presented six scholarships to promising blind students at our convention banquet. Both of our internship recipients spoke about their experiences from the convention podium. Their speeches showed that their summer work experiences taught them valuable new skills and coping strategies.
This year's convention speakers kept people in the room right up to adjournment time. We heard from a student who attended the Teen Empowerment Program in Baltimore last summer, and from two of our Junior Science Academy students. Guest speakers encouraged us to push the envelope, talking to us about skydiving and scuba diving.
Sharon Ruda, Raven Pulliam, and Reggie Clinton updated us on the programs they head. Local politicians sent representatives to speak with us. Many presenters shared their personal stories during the luncheons and breakfasts. An audio version should be on our webpage soon if it is not up by the publication of this report.
On the just plain fun side, IABS IDOL gave us a chance to display our talents and donate to IABS. Many people stayed up during hospitality after the banquet. We know how to work but we also know how to play.
As usual we held elections on Sunday morning. Denise Avant and Mary Lou Grunwald were elected as new members of the NFBI Board. Welcome to Denise and Mary Lou. Sincerest thanks go to Anthony Thomas and Joe Monti for their years of service on the Board. We will miss them both.
I am pleased to let you know that one of our parents, Beth Sturman, and our new IABS president, Alyson Slaughter, have agreed to travel to Baltimore in January. Carmen Dennis and LeAnne Mayne will go in February. They will attend a seminar on membership building sponsored by Affiliate Action.
Washington Seminar dates have been set. We plan to send up to ten people to speak with our federal legislators. On the state level we expect to send another ten to attend a legislative breakfast in January or February of 2009.
The Board is already working on budgets and planning for the coming year. Please join us for any and all of our upcoming board meetings. They are open and often attended by many people who do not hold formal board seats. Comments and ideas are always welcome. I do have a habit of putting people to work, so be prepared.
NEWS FROM THE BLACKHAWK CHAPTER
By Bob Gardner
The NFBI Blackhawk Chapter holds monthly meetings the second Saturday of each month at 1:30 p.m. Our meeting place is the South Moline Township Center located at 637-17th Avenue, East Moline.
At our September meeting, we had a demonstration of the accessible voting machine put on by the Rock Island County Clerk's Office. Chapter members actually could try out the machine. Our October meeting program focused on Newsline(r), with Lois Montgomery demonstrating the system and helping people to sign up for the service. In November, our meeting program theme was "What would you do?" Situations and problems facing a blind person were presented, and those attending suggested solutions. Emphasis was placed on solving problems using the NFB philosophy.
Our Christmas party on the evening of Saturday, December 13 took the place of our regular December meeting. The Christmas party was held at Christ United Methodist Church in East Moline, and featured a terrific dinner prepared by the Wesleyan Group of the church. Over forty members and guests attended the event. Those in attendance enjoyed a Christmas program put on by the church's bell choir, and toted home piles of door prizes and goodies from the silent auction.
Our first meeting of the new year will be held on Saturday, January 10. We will discuss as a group what we should do in 2009. We hope to come up with ideas which will strengthen the mission of our chapter and be of interest to the membership.
The NFBI Blackhawk Chapter publishes a monthly newsletter, "Hawk Talk." The newsletter is available by e-mail through the NFBI IL-Talk listserv and on the NFBI website. You can also be put on a mailing list for either an E-mail version or a hardcopy version by contacting Bob Gardner.
We are the blind speaking for the blind, and we are changing what it means to be blind in the Quad-Cities and northwestern Illinois.
CHICAGO CHAPTER NEWS
By Debbie Kent Stein
For the Chicago Chapter the past few months have been packed with activities and challenges. In lieu of our August meeting we held a picnic at the Lincoln Park Zoo. About twenty Federationists brought lunches and visited the animals. Among the participants were three families with blind children.
In September Connie Davis hosted a program entitled "Reading on the Go" Dave Meyer, Denise Avant, Connie Davis and David Wright described and demonstrated an assortment of reading technologies for eliminating the print barrier.
On September 28, some twenty-five chapter members turned out to protest the opening of the movie "Blindness" at the AMC Theater on East Illinois Avenue. Ronza Othman coordinated the demonstration, which was part of a nationwide initiative to protest the movie's depiction of blind characters as helpless, hopeless, and morally corrupt. Several theater patrons stopped to talk to the demonstrators, and some decided not to attend the movie after all.
Following our November meeting the Chicago Chapter held its annual Games Night fundraiser. For a $25 ticket Federationists and friends spent a delightful evening playing Uno, checkers, Sorry, Scrabble, and other games, with a break for pizza.
One of our most entertaining and successful fundraisers is our annual Christmas auction. Seasoned auctioneer Anthony Thomas kept the bidding lively. As usual, baked goods were among the most popular items sold. The Chicago Chapter has a notorious sweet tooth!
Speaking of sweets, our fall candy sale is still in full swing. If you have a yen for mouthwatering chocolate, give a shout for a Chicago Chapter member. Dave Meyer, Ken Staley, and others sold a record number of tickets for our upcoming Chicago Bulls event. Thanks and congratulations to our dedicated sales force!
The Chicago Chapter holds regular meetings on the second Saturday of each month at the Exchequer Pub and Restaurant, 226 S. Wabash, in downtown Chicago. Please join us. If you have any questions contact Debbie Stein, Chapter President, at 773-631-1093 dkentbleehag at worldnet.att.net or First Vice President Dave Meyer at 708-209-1767 datemeyer at sbcglobal.net.
NFBI Ferris Wheel Chapter News
By Bill Reif & Cathy Randall
Our small chapter of ten members continues to be active in changing what it means to be blind in Illinois. Our location in Jacksonville gives us a relationship with the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired (ISVI). On September 10 we had a meeting with ten students at ISVI's Transitional Living Center. We discussed our views regarding the transitions process, and the skills they will need to consider sharpening as they enter work, college, and living independently. We also encourage them to sign up for Newsline, and to participate in affiliate events such as our Spring Student Seminar and our state convention . Our observations indicate that staff at the TLC do insist on Braille, independent travel, and self-advocacy skills. In addition, I.S.V.I. senior, Chris Mankowski, was a guest speaker at both our September Chapter meeting and October State Convention discussing his summer, eight-week experience studying, learning blindness skills, and working in the Baltimore area through the National Federation of the Blind.
Our chapter receives much of its funding through the local United Way organization, and we earned an additional $300 through a "Stuff the House" event conducted in June at El Rancherito's Restaurant. A local blind musician donated his time and talent to the event.
We continue plans to help those throughout the five-county area served by our Chapter learn of resources available to the blind. In October, we contacted eleven libraries in Green, Scott, Morgan, and Cass Counties to offer literature to their patrons.
The librarians were agreeable and even eager to receive our literature informing patrons of the services and resources available to the blind, and informing them about the National Federation of the Blind. We delivered Braille alphabet cards, Kernel Books, our pamphlets "What is the National Federation of the Blind" and "Do You Know a Blind Person", and a flyer describing the "Voice of the Diabetic" and our Diabetics Division.
In August, we held our elections. Cathy Randall, knowing she would not be available for several meetings in the coming year, has stepped down as president, but has agreed to continue as vice president. All of us have appreciated her years of work on behalf of the chapter. The new officers are: Bill Reif, President; Cathy Randall, Vice President; Debbie Blank, Secretary; Darryl Darnell, Treasurer; and Charlene Elder, Board Member.
Finally, we are proud to report that our team of six who participated in the State Convention's IABS Idol won the "Battle of the Chapters" event. Details of next year's challenge will be forthcoming.
NEWS FROM THE KANKAKEE HEARTLAND CHAPTER
By Bill Isaacs
Merry Christmas!
Thanks to all of you who attended the Senior Fair and State Convention! Thanks to those of you who made significant contributions to make the state convention a remarkable one. Our chapter is still working to recruit new members in our area, as a result of these events.
In December our chapter met at the Family House Restaurant, 312 W. Kennedy Drive, Bourbonnais, for our Christmas Party.
On January 3, 2009, our chapter will meet at the Bourbonnais Public Library, 250 W. John Casey Drive, Bourbonnais.
On February 7, 2009, we plan to have a speaker from Riverside Hospital to talk about macular degeneration.
On March 7, 2009, we will hold our annual election of officers.
Our vice-president, Frank Einfeldt recently suffered a heart attack. He is back home and resting comfortably. Immediate past president, Mike Doris has terminal cancer. Please remember him in your thoughts and prayers.
As we go to press, we learned that Mike Doris passed away on December 11.
IABS NEWS
By Ronza Othman & Alyson Slaughter
The Illinois Association of Blind Students enjoyed a very successful state convention. Once again, our members participated in a wide variety of convention activities and helped to usher in a new group of future NFBI leaders. IABS hosted the traditional IABS Idol on Friday night. Participants performed original and covered musical acts. Congratulations to Lori Brown, who performed a cover of Patsy Klein's "Crazy". The judges selected Lori as the 2008 IABS Idol. The panel of judges, Resident Simon Julia Chang, National Rep Mark Riccobono, and NABS Rep Ryan Strunk critiqued the performances and selected the winner. Thank you to everyone who participated. An IABS Idol CD is available for purchase for $10. Please contact Ronza Othman at 708-829-0523 or by email at aznor99 at aol.com to place your order.
IABS held our fall business meeting during the IABS Breakfast. This year we had more participants than we have had at any prior IABS meeting. We discussed our past accomplishments and future plans. In addition, we conducted elections for a new IABS board. The following were elected: President Alyson Slaughter; First Vice President Michelle Wesley; Second Vice President Brandy Winiecki; Secretary Araceli Avina; Treasurer Ronza Othman; Board Member Casandra Certeza; and Board Member Debbie Kent Stein. Congratulations to the new IABS Board.
The Illinois Association of Blind Students hosted the Student Luncheon Saturday afternoon. We honored students for their work, their triumphs, and their determination. NABS Rep Ryan Strunk gave a powerful keynote address, discussing transitioning and the need for combining the innovative ideas of new leadership with the experience of veteran leaders in order to build a strong, lasting, and productive organization. Students learned about scholarship opportunities from other organizations as well. In addition, IABS presented an Excellence in Teaching Award to Dan Thompson, computer instructor at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired, to honor him for his exemplary instruction in blindness skills. The Illinois Association of Blind Students presented IABS Service Awards to Kelly Doty and Patti Gregory-Chang for their dedication to promoting student excellence and youth development in Illinois. Finally, the 2008 scholarship class introduced itself to the Convention. Each scholarship recipient spoke about his or her background and educational goals. And of course, the food was amazing.
Once again this year, IABS held a 50/50 raffle during convention. IABS raised $74, and the winner received a matching amount. Congratulations to Linda Villa for purchasing the winning ticket.
IABS is accepting dues for 2009. Anyone wishing to join IABS should send a check for $5 to Ronza Othman. Mail your dues to 15 Charles Plaza, Apt. 2703, Baltimore, MD 21201. Please make checks payable to Illinois Association of Blind Students. We welcome both students and non-students as members. IABS will forward $2 of the $5 to your local chapter to cover 2009 dues.
This past year, we have accomplished a great deal. Our members have served on every NFBI Committee. We co-hosted a wildly successful spring student seminar. We sent members to Washington Seminar, National Convention, and leadership seminars. Our membership exceeds fifty people. We held an outing at Six Flags to promote independent mobility and education. We've advocated with disability services offices, college admissions offices, rehabilitation counselors, and countless others on behalf of our members. We cosponsor a year-long transitions program for blind high-school students. We've maintained a sound treasury and operated an active listserv. We plan to do even more in 2009.
As 2008 comes to a close, we look back on what we've accomplished this year. We came together to map out activities and goals that would serve blind students well. As the "old board" hands off the torch to the new, we know that we have created a division that has done meaningful work. We know that the "new board" will work to continue the tradition we started, and will create its own identity and set of objectives.
THE NFBI SCHOLARSHIP CLASS OF 2008
By Debbie Kent Stein
Each year one of the high points of our state convention is the presentation of the annual scholarship awards. At this year's convention banquet we handed awards to six outstanding scholarship finalists. Kenneth Jernigan Scholarships of $1250 apiece went to Joseph Bein, Lily Diego, and Nemoy Malcolm. Joseph is a freshman majoring in theater arts at Millikin University in Decatur. Lily, a freshman at the University of Illinois/Chicago, plans to study English and creative writing. Nemoy will receive a bachelor's in social work from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Howard Wilson and Rose Ann Grages received Harold W. Nasheide Scholarships of $1500. Howard will earn a master's in counseling from Chicago State University. Rose Ann is a freshman at Prairie State Community College. She plans to earn a degree in astronomy.
This year's Peter Grunwald Scholarship for $2000 was awarded to Michelle Wesley. Michelle is a junior at the University of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana and is majoring in animal science. She plans to become a veterinarian.
Congratulations and best wishes to each of the 2008 NFBI Scholarship winners!
WE ARE ABLE
By Robert Gardner
"You know," Deb said, "we should figure out something our people could do together. Like something with Braille. Something like reading together."
I sat with Deb Smith and her husband, Rockie, at an outside table at Pint's, a pub-like establishment in Davenport, Iowa. My wife, Nancy, was there also, and we were enjoying the summer night along with a few beers.
"That's funny," I said to Deb. "The Blackhawk Chapter just got a grant for a $1000 to promote Braille. I don't see why we couldn't use some of that money to buy Braille books and other stuff."
I took a sip of beer and thought some more. "There's lots of things we could do," I said. "Besides reading Braille together, we could offer to teach people Braille. Or just improve the Braille of those who already know Grade 2."
And so it began. We started out last September with four people attending our weekly ABLE group meetings. One member, Lois Montgomery -- vice president of the Blackhawk Chapter and writer of the original grant proposal -- came up with our group name: ABLE. That stands for Access to Braille Literacy for Everyone.
Patrick Olson, another attendee and a Blackhawk Chapter board member, made arrangements for us to meet at a local community college on the Illinois side of the Quad-Cities. The fourth original member, Deb Smith -- president of the NFB Bix Chapter in Davenport, -- ordered Braille copies of a novel from a commercial source to be our first reading project.
Using the grant money, Lois has also purchased McDuffy Reader instruction books, slates and styluses, and Braille paper. Most of that material has been stockpiled for people who will join the ABLE group in the future. Bob Gardner has kept the weekly agenda and a flow of information related to Braille going out to the group by E-mail. Jana Hergert, a member of the Blackhawk Chapter, recently joined the group, and her enthusiasm for improving her Braille skills has infected everyone.
The weekly meetings of the ABLE group have developed into a routine. Group members use a slate and stylus to Braille a paragraph during the week. They bring their work to the class for others to review. Members take turns reading Braille out loud during the class, each reading from his or her own copy of our Agatha Christie novel. Members are expected to read further in the book at home during the week. The group starts reading aloud at a designated page at the next session. When asked if she enjoyed the ABLE Group sessions, Jana said, "I'm having a ball with it, and I look forward to it every week."
The group purchased a Braille book to give to Kaitlyn Ryan, our nine-year-old member of the Blackhawk Chapter. Another Braille book, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," was ordered to give to each group member to read over the Christmas break. Group members also Brailled Christmas cards to send to other Braille readers among their friends.
The ABLE group hopes to expand in 2009. Lois plans house visits to give Braille instruction and support to some who cannot attend our group meetings. The group will work to attract some who have no knowledge of Braille whatsoever, and will be willing to give instruction. The ABLE group also plans on newspaper publicity in 2009, tying the group activities to the release of the Louis Braille coin.
FINDING MY VOICE
By Lily Diego
I stood there for a few seconds waiting for everyone to quiet down, or rather for me to gain my own composure. I was trembling from head to toe, and my stomach flipped over a few times. I began to read out loud with a few hesitations and pauses. As I read on, the words seemed to be more than just words. They felt real. Then again, how could they not be real? I was reading out my life.
"The blow to my head caused the optic nerve atrophy.
I know the only sign of me
being alive at that time was my crying.
I know that you
followed my cries to where I lay dying."
The tears slid down my cheeks but at that time they went unnoticed by me. It became harder to breathe, but I kept reading. I was entranced by my work and nothing mattered anymore. I was beyond return then, I had a longing. Perhaps it was a desperate need to let the world know how it had been for me.
I gradually came back to myself. My poem was over. I walked off the stage and everything seemed so far away. I hardly heard the thunderous clapping, whistling, and cheering. I was too shocked to acknowledge the standing ovations. People congratulated me as I made my way to my seat. I had actually performed in an Open-Mic!
During the intermission I sat there, still a little dazed as cold sweat dried on my body. The air seemed stifling as my mind whirled with a memory of my childhood. I remembered how cars had zoomed by me, and I stood in front of big windows of countless businesses. People walked by, and I watched them helplessly. If only I could just get up my nerve. What if my English wasn't good enough to ask someone? Deep inside myself I knew that language was hardly the problem. At that time, I was just a seven-year-old girl who was too shy and scared to face the world alone. I gazed after the clip-clop of heels, men who rushed past me on their phones, and the young girls who spoke too rapidly in English for me to understand. I got up my nerve finally, and I stopped two teenage girls. I asked them shakily where Progresso Real Estate was. "Come on, I'll take you," one of them said. My orientation and mobility instructor had told me to ask for help if I happened to get confused, but he specifically told me not to let them take me.
One girl held on to my arm, and I followed with relief. Suddenly, we stopped. I heard the other girl say, "Don't take her." My heart stopped. I knew my mobility instructor had signaled them not to take me. After all, he was just across the street watching. The girl let go and walked off with her friend, leaving me once again in front of the buildings. Tears trickled down my face then, as people and cars passed by. Not so much to my surprise, no one stopped to wonder why I was alone and crying.
The memory replayed vividly in my head as I sat glued to the chair. I hardly heard whoever was performing then. At that moment another memory hit me hard. I remembered my eighth grade teacher saying, "My only concern is that Lily won't be able to voice her needs in high school or in college, and therefore will fall behind." Then I thought of the woman who told my mother that I was fortunate just to be visually impaired due to my head trauma as a baby, that other "problems" could have developed. I might have had learning disabilities, outbursts of rage, communication issues, and problems interacting with people. The woman was a specialist in such issues, and she came every year to make sure I did not show such signs and behaviors in high school. As the woman spoke, a surge of anger flared within me, and it had nothing to do with the traumatic head injury that happened years ago. All I wanted was to go back to my American literature class. It seemed that she was always interrupting my English and choir classes to make me feel sorry for myself. Her intentions were not to hurt me, but my inability to voice my needs when I was younger had nothing to do with "tantrums" as people assumed. People had already judged me because of my visual impairment. No one could look past my disability to help me overcome my fear of talking. Everyone had failed to help me then because they called my anger a "tantrum". The fact that I couldn't talk when I was younger had been put behind me once I grew into myself and began to speak more. I never even considered my visual impairment a "problem" like that woman called it.
It was still intermission, but I remained stunned at my realization. Many teachers had tried to enhance my writing because they knew before I did that I could express myself that way. They persuaded me to enter my poetry in contests or just simply to write poems as an assignment. The teacher of my Performing Poems seminar had told me that I could speak out for people who were blind or visually impaired. She said I could be the one to help society understand what it was like and to speak for the people who couldn't yet speak for themselves. It hit me then that I had done just that. I managed to do something I had thought I could never do in my life. Never once had I felt so relieved and fully satisfied with myself. I had overcome more than my shyness. I had gained a confidence I had never known before. Words had been my fear, and yet they were the key I had been looking for all the time. I had been holding unspoken truths inside of me that I was unaware existed till this moment. I smiled because I knew in my heart that my eighth-grade teacher no longer had to worry about me. I can now advocate for myself. My unique experiences while growing up have shaped my mentality and the person that I am today.
MEET A FEDERATIONIST: Denise Avant
By Connie J. Davis
Newly elected state board member Denise Avant was born in Chicago. She has been blind all her life, and her vision has deteriorated since she was a child. She attended Nash Elementary School where she was in a resource room for low vision students and was taught to use large print. In seventh grade, she learned to travel using a long white cane. She learned Braille at Foreman High School. She discovered that using Braille made her life easier, and began to use it as her chief reading method.
Denise attended the University of Missouri, where she earned her bachelors degree in political science. She later earned a law degree from the same university. Her first job was working for Will County in Illinois. She now works for Cook County in the appellate court division. Within the past few years, she has also earned a masters in journalism from Roosevelt University.
In high school, Denise wrote for the school newspaper and sang in the chorus. Even then, she realized the value of integrating with her sighted peers. Then and now, she has always competed on a basis of equality with her sighted colleagues. She uses whatever technology will serve her best under the particular circumstances - JAWS, a Braille embosser, a live reader, a tape recorder, and a scanner with the Open Book program. And she is fortunate to have a Braille Plus Icon, a Victor Reader Stream, Braille Note PK, and a color identifier (which doesn't always work).
In her leisure time Denise enjoys reading, downhill skiing, working out, and singing. She says she would like to learn to cross-country ski. In addition to being on the NFBI board, co-chairing the state Public Relations Committee and her many other activities, Denise is a member of Visionaries and the Blind Services Association Board.
Denise started attending NFBI Chicago Chapter meetings in 2005, largely due to the influence and persuasion of NFBI Chicago Chapter board member Debbie Pittman. State President Patti Chang was a big part of the reason she stayed. As fellow Federationists, we're glad she stayed and consider ourselves lucky to have her among us!
IN MEMROIAM
IN MEMORY OF LARRY BICKHEM
By Debbie Pittman
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Chicago Chapter member Larry Bickhem, who died on August 16. Larry was born in 1951 in Bremerton, Washington, the eldest of nine children. When he was four years old his family moved to Chicago, where he grew up. Blind since early childhood, Larry attended Spaulding and Skinner Elementary Schools and Foreman High School. He went on to study at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
Larry's career started at the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, where he completed training to become a medical transcriber. He trained and later taught Braille at the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education (ICRE). I believe that Larry was one of the best Braille readers in Chicago.
Larry was a man of many interests and commitments. He was a dedicated volunteer with the Guild for the Blind and the Southside Senior Support Social Club, and a member of the National Federation of the Blind and Concerned Citizens of Paratransit. He worked as a transcriber at West Suburban Hospital and Pittman Enterprise & Associates. In addition he was a radio personality on WCFJ-AM 1470. He was a deeply committed Christian and founded a prayer group which gathered regularly.
I got to know Larry through our working relationship at Pittman Enterprises & Associates. Through difficult times at work and in our personal lives we developed a lasting friendship. Larry was always willing to go that extra mile to help solve a problem or make things better for someone else. For instance, he knew a lady who had lost her husband and was afraid to be home alone. Larry would go to her house every day to keep her company. He sat with her until a family member came home. Larry lived on the very far west side and he would go to this lady's house which was way out south.
Larry will be deeply missed. Even now I still find myself picking up the phone to call him, and I have to stop myself. He was a rose whose blossoms have faded, but whose fragrance will linger on forever.
A TRIBUTE TO DELLA COOK
By Patrick Olson, Mary Lou Grunwald, and Carmen Dennis
Della Cook joined the Chicago Chapter in the early 1970's, when the NFBI was still a brand-new affiliate. In those early days she was a quiet but strong leader of the Chicago Chapter. Whenever she came to chapter meetings she brought others with her and encouraged them to get involved. Her outreach within the African-American community was invaluable in building the chapter.
Della had strong opinions on various topics, but she was diplomatic. She was quite active in her attendance at both state and national conventions. As Carmen Dennis notes, "Della Cook was one classy lady."
Della gave help whenever it was asked of her. She was a great Federationist. Della was always supportive of the actions that were part of the NFB. Carmen Dennis remembers Della Cook giving the invocation at the 2002 Illinois state convention. She gave words of wisdom whenever they were needed.
Let us all give a proper farewell to Della Cook, a true friend and an extraordinary member of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois. May we remember her as we move forward in this organization that she served and supported.
IN MEMORIAM: Ed Provost
By Connie J. Davis
Lifetime member of the Chicago Chapter, Ed Provost passed away earlier this fall. Ed apparently had not been well for sometime and resided in a nursing home.
I first met Ed when he was traveling with Don Gillmore on an Amtrak to go NAC Tracking. He later joined after meeting future wife Pam Pashup. Ed was not one to seek the limelight. However, he participated in the Federation in his own quiet way behind the scenes. Ed was not blind, but he was very supportive of the NFB and all we stand for.
IN MEMORIAM: Mike Doris
By Connie J. Davis
After the untimely passing of Brian Turner, Michael Doris stepped into the shoes of the president of the Kankakee Heartland Chapter.
I had the opportunity to become acquainted with Mike at a state convention. I observed the way he cared for others and helped them. Mike did not seek the spotlight. He led with a quiet, gentle dignity.
He did not lead the Heartland Chapter for long due to his own ailing health. Mike had heart problems and eventually had to live in a nursing home. At the time of submission of the Heartland article, Bill Isaacs advised us that Mike had terminal cancer and not long to live. Mike lost his valiant battle on December 11.
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