[IL-Talk] December 10 Chicago Chapter Meeting Minutes

[davant1958 at gmail.com]

Chicago Chapter Meeting Minutes 

Zoom/Exchequer Pub Hybrid

December 10th, 2022

 

Denise began the December Chapter meeting just after 12pm and welcomed
everyone to the meeting, introducing herself as the Chicago Chapter
President. She shared that as always everyone should please stay masked
unless you are actively drinking or eating to keep everyone safe. She noted
that today's meeting won't have a program item or take up a collection since
after the meeting, the chapter auction will take place and we'd like you to
spend your money at the auction. She then asked Bill Reif to go around with
the mic to begin introductions and asked that everyone give their name and
their favorite part of the holiday season.

 

Denise Avant - She likes all of the Christmas gatherings with all of the
music.

Michal Nowicki - Favorite part of the holiday season is opportunities to
travel, get out of town, as things are typically slow at work and he doesn't
have to worry about taking time off when his firm might need him. 

Bill Reif -Springfield and his favorite part of the holidays is getting
together with family and particularly with friends. He was able to party
with the kids at the school of the blind recently and it's the companionship
that he enjoys the most.

Marilyn Green - Favorite part of Christmas is shopping, that's why she's
hear today, besides all of you lovely people

Kira O'Bradovich - Favorite thing about Christmas and the holidays is
getting to be with everyone, listening to great music, and being inside all
warm and cozy.

Steve Hastalis - Getting together with family and friends at Church and
playing and singing Christmas carols. 
Laura Cordingly -, her favorite time is getting together with friends and
having some Christmas drinks.

Ken Borst - He likes getting together with friends and having Christmas
drinks, he looks forward to holidays being over. 

Kyle Chellino - This is his first meeting, he's been living in Chicago for 4
months and took Paratransit out here. His favorite part of the holidays is
driving places, he likes the drive. 

Michal asked if he was behind the wheel and Denise said she hoped not, which
was met with laughter.

Debbie Stein - her Favorite part of the holiday is gathering with family and
family traditions.

Adam Kozarowicz - He is an old member and his favorite part of Christmas is
decorating with friends and family.

Denise welcomed Adam back and said it was good to see him

Ken Schad - He said his favorite holiday things were the carols, both
secular and sacred.

Eileen Truschke - Her favorite part of the holiday season is singing
Christmas carols with people she loves, at church and at the women's club.

Pam Gillmore -,she and Mary Grunwald were at the auction table - her
favorite holiday thing is eating.

Mary Grunwald -. Her favorite thing is being around people and a present or
two.

Nikki Nishagima - her Favorite part of Christmas is food, people, and
partying.

Paul Shepardson - Favorite part of Christmas is being with family and the
music, the songs.

Michelle Ault - Favorite part is the Christmas caroling, gathering with
family and friends and doing little surprise things for people.

Marco Giannotti - his Favorite part about the holidays is when they end,
he's fully on board with Ken.
Ed Birmingham - What he likes about the holiday is very long, any kind of
food, good friends, good bourbon, good cigars, but his favorite thing this
year will be watching the grandkids as they are just at the right age that
they will tear apart everything including half of his tree already.

Jemal Powell - Favorite part of the holidays is getting together with
family, having a good time, and having a couple of drinks.

Glenn Moore

 

Zoom

Dan TeVelde - Favorite thing is visiting Chris' family in Florida when they
can and eating his mom's key lime pie

Gina Falvo - Favorite thing is getting together with family and friends.

Bob Widman - Greetings all, favorite thing is being with people and
traditional Christmas music and giving presents, it's more fun to give than
to receive them. He then let the auctioneers know he has an item, a world
coffee tour, and Denise said he should connect with Mary once the meeting is
over. 

David Meyer - He has three favorite things, the legitimate Christmas carols,
getting together with family, and having a chance to listen to Bob Rivers
parodies.

Patti Chang - Ed stole hers as her favorite thing is watching Kayla open
presents, especially since she loves the box more than the toy. 

Robert Hansen 

Gregg Rosenberg

 

Denise then asked Patti to play the presidential release. On the release,
President Riccobono highlighted giving Tuesday, the first Tuesday of
December and shared that this year, Lyft, the ride sharing company, added
the NFB to its roundup program which is impressive since there are only
about ten charities that Lyft includes. You can now select the NFB in the
Lyft app to receive contributions from every Lyft ride you take by rounding
up to the nearest dollar and you can promote this with your friends, family,
anyone you are able so please spread the word. 

 

President Riccobono then shared that the NFB is investigating the
accessibility of Indeed's pre-employment assessment tools so if you've been
invited by an employer to complete a pre-employment assessment through
Indeed, or if you have wanted to, or attempted to, complete a pre-employment
assessment as a way of broadening your resume and you've experienced issues,
please contact Valerie Yingling in our legal office.  Her e-mail address is
<mailto:legal at nfb.org> legal at nfb.org.

 

He then noted that we are just a couple of months away from the 2023
Washington Seminar. It will be the first in person Washington Seminar in
years so please plan to attend the Washington Seminar by coordinating with
your affiliate president. You can find the hotel reservation information on
our website and you should make your hotel reservations ASAP before the room
block is gone. The booking link for the hotel is on our Washington Seminar
web page, including the agenda and information on our legislative
priorities, which can all be found at www.nfb.org/Washington-seminar
<http://www.nfb.org/Washington-seminar> .  

 

Then, President Riccobono encouraged everyone to place their orders soon on
the independence market to ensure their items arrive in time for the
holidays and also noted that there will be some price increases in 2023 as
there's been difficult in getting material and prices have gone up. The mini
telescoping and telescoping canes for instance will be going up to $40 each
starting on January 3rd. 

 

He then shared that they are launching the scholarship application for 2023
and it is now available until March 31st, 2023. All chapters and affiliates
should encourage all blind students to start their applications now. This
year there will be 30 $8,000 scholarships given out and it's a great way for
the NFB to conduct outreach to blind students. More information including
the application can be found at  <http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>
www.nfb.org/scholarships. 

 

President Riccobono then said he was excited to announce that the NFB has
created three new public service announcements with themes including
connecting to our community; families being together; and your eyesight may
change, but your dreams don't have to. Once they are launched, they will be
letting our members know how we can best promote them. The first one can be
found in the release recording here
<https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases>
https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases. 

 

Next, he reminded everyone of the Dream Maker's Circle and encouraged
everyone to consider participating. You can talk to our very own Patti Chang
about this.  She can be found at extension 2422 and our main number,
410-659-9314.  Or you can reach her at  <mailto:pchang at NFB.org>
pchang at NFB.org.

 

President Riccobono ended with an overview of our accomplishments this year,
including launching plans for the Museum of the Blind people's movement,
helping Dan Parker set a Guinness World Record on his motorcycle that he is
planning to donate to that museum, and our partnership with Humanware and
the American Printing House for the Blind to build tactical displays,
revolutionizing access to information for blind children in the future. He
thanked everyone, shared condolences for members we lost, and wished
everyone best wishes for the new year.

 

Following the release, Denise reminded all that we've been doing Zoom for a
while, and she appreciates those coming in who cannot come in during person
and asked that everyone be sure that they were muted when they came in. She
then noted that the next item on the agenda is the State President's report
and asked that Marilyn be given the mic. Marilyn greeted everyone and said
that she'd been over to the auction table and there's a lot of great stuff
over there. She said that she didn't have much to share but others in the
room did. The state affiliate had their board meeting on Thursday night and
the student seminar will be coming up in March and the link to register will
go out after the first of the new year. So, if you know of a student who
could benefit from that program, please let them know to be on the lookout.
She then turned it over to Denise to talk about Washington Seminar first and
asked Debbie to cover scholarship after. 

 

Denise shared that we have six people who will be attending Washington
Seminar 2023. Four of them are from the Chicago chapter, they are herself,
Dustin Cather, since they are the co-chairs of the committee, a first-time
attendee, Michelle Alt, and then Steve Hastalis. The other two people are
Teresa Fabre, who is our student president and also a first timer, Tasabih
Elfaki who is a student and scholarship winner this year. The dates this
year are January 30, 31st, and February 1. As usual Illinois will look to
complete all meetings at the hill on those first two days. Steve will
distribute the amounts from the chapter for flights and the amounts for the
affiliate for lodging are coming. The access Technology bill is still being
worked on and we hope it will pass. Meanwhile, the three issues are
accessibility of Website Bill, Medical Device Bill, and the SSDI Bill. Even
if you weren't selected or did not apply for Washington Seminar, we ask that
you help get the word out on these bills. Michal then asked if we had any
updates on the Access Tech Bill as to whether or not it will pass. We have
165 co-sponsors and it is our hope it passes this congress. But also feel
that since many of the people will be returning that if we get 165, we can
start there and build support and look for a way to get that into the
legislation. We expect that we can get it passed in the 117th congress.
Jemal asked about the SSDI Bill and Denise explained we do not have the fact
sheets yet but it will focus on the issue of earning limits that you cannot
exceed and still receive benefits.

 

Debbie then shared information on the National Scholarship Program. There
will be thirty $8,000 scholarships to students all over the US including DC
& Puerto Rico so please help them spread the word about the program. The
state scholarship program here in Illinois will be a bit different, with a
different due date for the scholarship from the national one. While the
National scholarship applications are due on March 31st, the State
scholarships will be due by midnight on May 31st, which gives people a
little more time to apply for an NFB of Illinois scholarship. The
scholarship application will be live very soon on our website and you can
get things started right away. The state scholarship awards will be in the
amount of $5,000 this year. She then asked Patti if she had anything to add.
Patti said she needs additional people to test the application system and
file a fake form by bugs bunny or whatever fun you'd like to have and then
report back to her to ensure it works as expected and looks good before it
goes live. Bruce Paul, Kira O'Bradovich, & Dan TeVelde volunteered to do so.


 

Denise then asked Marilyn if there was anything further and she said that
she did not have anything further beyond being on the lookout for student
seminar and that there may be a fun item for the affiliate over Christmas
time and invited Dave to share information about it. Dave shared that Robert
Leslie Newman shared this on the Senior's list a few weeks ago but that he
and Marilyn are working out the logistics to play a rendition of the
Christmas Carol completely done with speech synthesizers representing the
characters. Denise said that would be interesting and she said it would be
and that he thought Malcolm may be Scrooge but he's surprised they didn't
put Daniel in there as it would have been perfec.t Marilyn shared they may
do it the week before Christmas, perhaps on Friday or even Christmas Eve if
they can get a volunteer, it will be an hour. 


Denise then moved to ask for the approval of the Secretary's minutes sent
out last week. Jemal moved, Dave seconded, and then she asked if there were
any other additions beyond what was put out on the IL-Talk list, there were
no other additions, corrections or deletions, minutes approved.

 

She then asked Steve Hastalis to give us a brief summary of the current
financial report. Steve shared that we have $4,348.69, so far this meeting
we've collected two dues payments so please let him know during or after the
meeting if you would like to pay dues. He said that he hopes we have brisk
business at our auction today. Patti asked for the names, Steve shared that
they were Adam Kozarowicz, who's address information as changed, and Nikki
Nishagima. Denise asked Steve to follow-up with Patti after the meeting with
those and any additional details. 

 

Denise then asked Patti to talk about Green Drop and let everyone know we
are not voting on this today, we are welcoming ideas today. Patti shared
that the NFB has long participated where green Drop picked up household
goods or spots where people could drop off goods and if they designated the
NFB, the NFB would receive a certain amount of money per pallet. This has
been very lucrative for us but recently Green Drop was bought by Savers
which is popular in Chicago. Savors does not pick up from people's houses so
we are piloting a version of this to see if we can make this work for the
NFB and to bring in some money for the affiliates and chapters. Bridgid
Burke who is the Director of Fiscal Services has asked the Chicago Chapter
to participate in a pilot program since it's a lot more complicated without
pick-ups. She noted that we would need to find a place for the trailer to
be. Savors will provide the trailer and pick it up. We would then need to
figure out how to get the donated items to the truck. She thinks perhaps we
could find a church, temple, school, or a similar type of parking lot where
we can have the trailer for the weekend and we can ask friends and family to
go and drop things off and if we can figure out who we have for drivers we
could have someone go around to pick up goods for people who have a lot of
stuff but can't get it to the trailer, we may need to pay them. Savers pays
by the pound, but the money raised would be split evenly between the
national organization and the Chicago Chapter and we'd be able to give
feedback on what did and did not work to the national organization. We'd
like to see if anyone has any ideas and hold off on a vote to see if we can
manage this. Patti shared that she thinks we need to try to make this work
because if it's not viable here it probably won't be viable elsewhere in the
country. Denise noted that a couple of the board members are investigating
possibilities but if chapter members have an idea, email her or Patti. This
would take place in the Spring or beginning of summer but we need to start
thinking about it now to ensure we have a place. There were no questions so
Denise invited Debbie to read the amended constitution a second time as
required before voting. This was also read at the last meeting. 

Debbie read the following:

 

Constitution of the NATIONAL FEDERATION of the BLIND of ILLINOIS CHICAGO
CHAPTER CONSTITUTION

 

Amendment passed 2022 and ratified 2023. 

 

ARTICLE I. NAME 

The name of this organization shall be The National Federation of the Blind
of Illinois Chicago Chapter

                                                            

ARTICLE II. PURPOSE 

The purpose of the Chicago Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind
of Illinois shall be to advance the general welfare of the blind of the
Chicago area, of the state of Illinois and of the nation; to function as an
integral part of the National Federation of the Blind; to serve as a vehicle
for collective action by the blind of the Chicago area; to operate as a
mechanism through which the blind and interested sighted persons can come
together to plan and carry out programs to improve the quality of life of
the blind; to provide a means of collective action for parents of blind
children; to forward the interests of blind students and provide them with a
means of joint action and expression; to promote the vocational, cultural,
and social advancement of the blind; to achieve the integration of the blind
into society on a basis of equality with the sighted; and to take any other
action which will improve the overall condition and standard of living of
the blind.

 

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP 

Section One - Members At least a majority of the members of this
organization must be blind. Every person is presumed to be eligible for
membership in this organization.  For this reason, any person may become a
member of this organization in accord with onboarding procedures with all
the rights and responsibilities of membership in the National Federation of
the Blind Chicago Chapter by tendering dues; and shall have the right to
vote, serve on committees, speak on the floor, and hold office. 

 

Section Two- Affiliation Membership in this organization automatically
establishes membership in the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois
and the National Federation of the Blind. 

 

Section Three- Expulsion: Any member may be expelled for violation of this
Constitution, for conduct unbecoming to a member of the Federation or for
egregious acts including but not limited to racism, or sexism by a two
thirds majority vote of the members present and voting at any regular
business meeting of this organization. The National Federation of the Blind
of Illinois Chicago Chapter is an all-inclusive organization. A person
charged with any of these offences must be presented with a written copy of
the charges at least one 1 regular business meeting prior to the business
meeting at which these charges are to be heard and must be afforded an
opportunity to respond in writing or orally. The state convention or the
state Board of Directors of this organization may reinstate any person who
has been expelled unless such expulsion has been confirmed by the National
Convention or by the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the
Blind, in which event the person may not be reinstated except by the
National Convention or by the National Board. Any person who feels that
he/she has been unjustly expelled from this organization may appeal to the
Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind, which may (in
its discretion) consider the matter and make a binding decision. 

 

 

 

ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES: 

There shall be elected annually a President, a First Vice President, a
Second Vice President a Secretary, and a Treasurer. The terms of these
officers shall begin at the close of the meeting at which they are elected
and qualified. Officers and board members shall be elected by a majority
vote of the members who are present and voting. All members shall be
eligible to vote in an election if, they have paid their dues at least
twenty-one (21) days prior to the date of the election. Election shall be by
voice vote, standing vote, show of hands, or roll call vote unless a secret
ballot is requested. There shall be no proxy voting. If no nominee receives
a majority vote on the first ballot, the name of the person receiving the
fewest votes shall be dropped from the list of nominees, and a second ballot
shall be taken. This procedure shall continue until one of the nominees has
received a majority vote from the members present and voting. The duties of
each officer shall be those ordinarily associated with that office. The
President, the Vice Presidents, and a majority of the Officers must be
blind.

 

ARTICLE V. BOARD OF DIRECTORS: 

The Board of Directors of this organization shall consist of the five (5)
constitutional officers and four (4) additional members. The four (4) Board
Members shall be elected at the same time and in the same manner as that
prescribed for the election of officers. The Board shall meet at least four
times each year, at the call of the President or on written call signed by
any three (3) of the Board Members. The Board shall advise the President and
shall have charge of the affairs of the organization between meetings. At
least a majority of the members of the Board must be present at any meeting
to constitute a quorum to transact business. The Board may be polled by
telephone, e-mail, or mail ballot on any questions. A majority of the Board
must be blind.

 

ARTICLE VI. MEETINGS: 

Section One - Regular Meetings: This organization shall hold regular
meetings at a time and place to be determined by the membership. At least 15
members must be present to constitute a quorum to transact business. 

Section Two - Special Meetings: The President of this organization may call
a special meeting of the body at any time he/she, or a majority of the Board
of Directors, deems such action to be necessary. At such special meeting at
least 15 members must be present to constitute a quorum to transact
business.

 

ARTICLE VII. COMMITTEES: 

The President may appoint such committees as he/she or the organization
deems necessary.

 

ARTICLE VIII. AFFILIATION: 

The National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Chicago Chapter shall be an
affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and the
National Federation of the Blind and shall furnish to the President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois upon request a list of the
names and addresses of elected officers and board members. A copy of the
Constitution of the National Federation of the blind of Illinois Chicago
Chapter and of all amendments to the Constitution shall be sent for review
to the President of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and the
National Federation of the Blind without delay. This constitution and any
amendments to this constitution will not take affect until they are ratified
by the state board of directors of the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois. The National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Chicago Chapter
shall not merely be a social organization but shall formulate programs and
actively work to promote the economic and social betterment of the blind.
This organization shall comply with the provisions of the Constitution of
the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and the provisions of the
contract appearing on the back of the Charter of Affiliation issued to state
affiliates by the National Federation of the Blind. Policy decisions of the
National Federation of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois (whether made by the National Convention or the National Board of
Directors or the State Convention or the State Board of Directors) are
binding on this organization, and this organization shall participate
affirmatively in carrying out such policy decisions. As a condition of
affiliation, it is agreed by this organization that the National Federation
of the Blind (whether by action of the National Convention or the National
Board or the State Convention or State Board) has the power to expel or
discipline an individual member and to expel or reorganize a state affiliate
or local chapter. In the event of reorganization, the assets of this
organization shall belong to the reorganized chapter or if no reorganization
occurs for a period of two years, to the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois and the former chapter shall dissolve and cease to exist. The name
National Federation of the Blind, Federation of the Blind, or any variant
thereof is the property of the National Federation of the Blind; and this
organization, if it ceases to be a part of the National Federation of the
Blind, (for whatever reason) shall forfeit the right to use the name
National Federation of the Blind, Federation of the Blind, or any variant
thereof.

 

ARTICLE IX. DUES: 

The dues of this organization shall be set by the Board of Directors of the
Chicago chapter and are payable in advance on an annual basis and due on
January 1st of each calendar year. 

 

ARTICLE X. DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS: 

The funds of this organization shall be deposited in a bank to be selected
by the Treasurer with the approval of the President. All financial
obligations of this organization shall be discharged by check, issued on
written order of the President. Checks shall be issued by the Treasurer. 

 

ARTICLE XI. DISSOLUTION: 

In the event of the dissolution of this organization, or if (for whatever
reason) it ceases to be an affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind
of Illinois its assets shall be given to the National Federation of the
Blind of Illinois to be held in trust for a reorganized chapter in the area.
In the event that no chapter is reorganized in the area for a period of two
(2) years from the date this organization ceases to be an affiliate of the
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois the assets become the property
of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois.

 

ARTICLE XII. AMENDMENTS: 

This Constitution may be amended at any regular meeting of this organization
by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting,
provided the proposed amendment has been submitted in writing and read at a
previous business session and provided it is in compliance with the
provisions of the Charter of Affiliation received by the state affiliate
from the National Federation of the Blind and with the policies of the
National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and the National Federation of
the Blind.

Adopted

 

Denise thanked her and shared that this was the second reading of the
Chicago Chapter Amended Constitution. She called for a motion, Jemal moved,
Ken seconded, the chapter voted and the amended constitution passed. She
stated that it will be sent to the State Board to be shared at the next
meeting.

 

Denise asked Kira to give an update on the work of the Chicago Chapter
Advocacy Committee. Kira shared that the committee met last month and will
meet again in January and that the committee has solidified their focus on
audio announcements at the L stops. Thanks to Steve we know that all stops
should have audio built in. In addition, stations have begun to add digital
signage on upcoming train arrivals both inside the entrance and on the
platform. Thanks to the ADA we legally have the right to that information
and so we are working to advocate for an audio version at every station. She
then also noted that the committee has also been working on in person voting
and turned it back over to Denise.

 

Denise noted that she Marilyn, and Kira met with members of the Chicago
Board of Elections about several concerns from issues with poll workers when
interacting with a blind person to the machines not working when members
were trying to vote and use the audio ballot as well as issues for low
vision users. She shared that we will need a couple of people to volunteer.
They have asked if we can come in and test the machines to let them know of
issues ahead of time as some can be cured with a software update. When they
got these new machines, they did not consult with us the way they did with
the "Help America Vote" Act and had they done so we may not have experienced
as many issues. So, we may need people who are living in the city limits to
test the machines if the time comes and we would like someone who is very
strong in blind etiquette to go and meet with the poll workers during
training for maybe 15 minutes as many have not met a blind person and don't
know what to do. She shared that they also discussed accessible vote by
mail. The website is pretty decent but when you go to sign up to request a
vote by mail ballot there is no note regarding the ability for the voter to
request an accessible vote by mail option sent to their email. In addition,
when requesting an accessible vote by mail ballot, there is a CAPTCHA that
was used that has presented issues but they are working to solve that and
allowing us to test it as they move towards a new re-CAPTCH option. She also
noted that we shared that we would like to stop the mailing out of the
request for accessible ballots in the mail, an email would be the best
format. In addition, she shared that the board said they'd received federal
funding to improve their website and they hope to fix as many of these
issues and more. Denise then asked if anyone had any questions and there
were none. 

 

Patti had a suggestion for something for the chapter to do between the
meeting and the auction. As a surprise for Scott LeBarre, our general
counsel, who has been sick with cancer and has been in the hospital for
about two months we received a suggestion that chapters send recordings for
him. She said she thought we should make something to send and she can just
record it on zoom and get it off to his state president, Jessica Beacham.
Denise then suggested that at the end of the meeting we say something like
"Hi Scott, we are wishing you a happy holiday season, and get well soon."
Patti then said she'd stop the meeting recording at the end and then start a
new recording. Pam and Patti both suggested the chapter sing the PAC Plan
song since that was something he was over. 

 

(A note from the Secretary, Scott LeBarre sadly passed the day this meeting
took place. It was announced on IL-Talk later in the month and a Celebration
of Life will be held on January 21st. The family asks that memorials be made
to the NFB and details to be able to attend his service virtually will be
posted at a later date here:
<https://nfb.org/civicrm/event/info?id=561&reset=1>
https://nfb.org/civicrm/event/info?id=561&reset=1)

 

Denise then invited Dave to share information on the auction and any other
fundraising ideas he might want to talk about. Greg said hello to everyone
while we waited for Dave. He could not unmute so Denise shared that there
will be 15 minutes following the meeting to look at the items where Mary and
Pam are for the auction. She said that she brought a gift card for Miller's
Pub and Pam said there are about 35 items on the table including the item
from Bob. Pam noted that Ed & Marco will both act as auctioneers. Denise
said that you could pay via Zelle at  <mailto:treasurer at nfbofillinois.org>
treasurer at nfbofillinois.org and Michal will ensure those donations go to the
chapter otherwise you can pay in cash or check to Steve Hastalis our chapter
treasurer. She said that Kira will be keeping a tab of who is buying what
and once you've paid you can walk out the door with your items. Patti asked
how bids online will be handled and Denise said we'd do as we did last year
and people can unmute and bid. Pam shared that Eileen is a runner but asked
for a second runner and Glenn volunteered. She also noted that those who
donated items can describe them if needed and if you have bid on a gift card
the value will be kept secret until the final bid but most are very
generous. When you bid shout out your name and Patti said auctioneer will
need to repeat what is said so the people online can hear. Patti then
suggested that those running a tab let Kira know ahead of time. Those who
were running tabs then called out their names and Kira noted them. Pam also
asked for help in writing checks and Glenn offered if not running and Denise
offered if Glenn is busy as a back-up. 


Denise then asked if there was any old business, there was none. She then
shared two items of new business. She noted that when we come in, we need to
ensure that we do not get to this restaurant to start our meeting before
noon because no one is here before noon so going forward into January be
sure to come no earlier than noon, we will start at our normal time of one
and there will be sufficient time to set up. With the board meetings we will
need to figure that out since she prefers to do them the same day in person
rather than on Zoom. 

 

Denise then noted that while we will meet on the second Saturday of the
month as planned in January and February, we need to take a vote on not
having a meeting in March due to St. Patrick's Day and Student Seminar. For
April, the second Saturday is on the Easter holiday weekend and the
following week is Orthodox Easter, so the board approved that the Chapter
meeting for April take place on April 1, the first Saturday of the month.
Marilyn moved to approve, Mary seconded, no questions or discussion, motion
passed. Denise said she will send an email to George to alert him of that
change, confirmed with Steve that he'd given George the check for the rental
for 2023, and then asked if there was any additional new business. Hearing
none she reminded everyone after adjourning that Patti will stop the
recording and start a new one to sing the PAC song. She asked for a motion
to adjourn, Marilyn moved, vote was taken, motion approved. The meeting
adjourned.

 

 

 

Signed and Submitted by, 

Kira O'Bradovich

Secretary

Chicago Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois







 

 

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