[Iabs-talk] Braille Proclamation

[Araceli Avina]

Hi All,
I am writing to let you know about another braille proclamation that 
has been signed by the Mayor of Hanover Park.  When I called Mayor 
Rodney F. Craig of the Village of Hanover Park and explained to him 
what the NFB was doing to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Louis 
Braille and to promote Braille Literacy, he was eager to help with this 
effort.  I sent him the proclamation by email that very day and he said 
he would present it to me at the Village meeting on Thursday March 19.  
The meeting was at 7:30 pm.  I attended the meeting and Mayor Craig 
read it out loud before presenting it to me.  Then there were pictures 
taken of me receiving the Braille Literacy Proclamation.  I am keeping 
in contact with him to find out how I can obtain a copy of those 
pictures to put in the Braille Examiner.  I just wanted to write about 
this because it impressed me to know that I did something important to 
help out the Braille Literacy crisis.  When he presented the 
proclamation to me, it felt like I was receiving some kind of award.  I 
suppose that in a sense, this could be defined as one.  So to all those 
who obtained Braille Literacy Proclamations, you not only received a 
Proclamation signed by someone important in your town or neighborhood, 
you received an award.  It made an impression on me receiving this, so 
I wanted to share this with all of you.  I can't wait to give Kelly 
Doty the Proclamation when I see her next time.  I also wanted to share 
with you all that after I received the Proclamation, and I was shaking 
hands with 6  of the board members of the Village of Hanover Park, they 
were all extremely grateful that the NFB has brought the Braille 
Literacy crisis to their attention
So, thank you all for reading this and letting me share my experience 
with you.  I apologize it took me some time to write about this.  I 
still hope it was worth reading through.

Araceli Avina, Secretary
Illinois Association of Blind Students
ISVI Advisory Council Member