[Jayhawk-chapter] August Chapter Meeting

[Rob Tabor]

Greetings to all Jayhawk Chapter Members and Guests,

 

I wish to thank all participants in our August regular chapter meeting for
taking the time to participate and for making my job both easy and enjoyable
as I chaired the meeting in Chikako's stead. Chikako, we hope your dog guide
training is going very well at Leader Dogs and we look forward to your
return and to meeting your furry four footed companion Karra.

 

What follows is a summary of today's meeting and is not intended to comprise
or to substitute for official chapter minutes. First, we started the meeting
at 2:18 pm, which is a little late due to unexpected delays with the T-Lift
in causing the late arrival of some chapter members. Those present were Bob
Fuller, Luther Fuller, and Brendy Latare, Cheryl and Ron Miller, Athena
Johnson, and Susan and Rob Tabor, for a total of 8 members. No guests were
present.

 

. NATIONAL OFFICE REPORT. Presidential Release no. 397, the pre-recorded
audio report of national president Dr. Marc Maurer, was presented. Among the
highlights of this report is that the endeavor in Congress to authorize
payment of sub minimum wages to workers with disabilities is held at bay for
an indefinite period, but the national petition drive continues as we move
forward to advocate the repeal of Section 14C of the Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA) which has authorized payment of subminimum wwages to blind and
other disabled individuals employed in sheltered work shops and work
activity centers since 1938.

 

On the combined presidential and vice presidential report, Rob Tabor noted
that 20 people from the Kansas affiliate represented Kansas at the 2011
National NFB convention during the first week of July in Orlando Florida,
comprising approximately 25 percent of the Kansas state affiliate
membership. Rob then reminded all to make plans and reservations to attend
the upcoming 2011 state affiliate convention at the Airport Hilton in
Wichita October 21/23. Thanks to the state affiliate board, hotel room rates
are subsidized to $72 per night. The convention will feature a technology
fair on Friday afternoon and there will be special drawings for various
electronic devices including an iPhone, an iPod Touch, and a BookSense
donated to the state affiliate by HIMS, Inc. during national convention.

 

The minutes of the June meeting which had been previously distributed to
chapter members via email were read for the benefit of those unable to
access the elecgtronic rendition and were approved with one correction
noted. Susan further reported that she and Athena were recently interviewed
by Hank Booth during his daily news and interview program "On The Record"
which airs during morning drive time on KLWN AM 1320 in Lawrence. The
interview pertained to the basic braille class taught by Susan on Monday
afternoons at Independence Inc. The interview received enthusiasticly
positive feedback from  Independence Inc.'s executive director, Dr. Stacey
Schwartz, PhD, and several members of her staff.

 

. TREASURER'S REPORT. Bob Fuller reported a treasury fund balance of
$585.94, which includes our recent payment to Pizza Hut for the peal and
stick pizza coupon cards being sold as a fund-raising project.

 

. LOUIS BRAILLE COIN SALE. In response to a question by Athena about the
origin and design of the coin Rob and Brendy noted that this limited edition
silver dollar coin was minted to commemorate the 200th birthday of Louis
Braille and to raise funds to advance the cause of braille literacy and
braille literacy education for teachers of blind children and youth. It was
also noted this is the only US minted coin in the nation's history to
feature a braille inscription. Athena offered forthwith the purchase the
coin at the agreed price of $50 and the sale was transacted.

 

. LIONS CLUB MID-WINTER RALLY. Rob noted that the 2011 mid-winter rally was
held in Lawrence which made it rrelatively easy for chapter members to host
a booth as we also did at the annual Lions Club state convention at the
Holiday Inn Convention Center in June. However, Susan noted her recall that
the 2012 event will be held in another community which would pose difficulty
for chapter members to staff a table or booth. Further discussion of this
item was deferred at least to the September meeting wwhen Chikako will
presumably be on hand to provide further information and guidance.

 

. MEET THE BLIND MONTH.  The chapter decided by consensus to set up a table
in the front courtyard of US bank main office at Ninth and Massachusetts
Streets. It was also generally agreed thee event should coincide with a KU
home football game if possible. As in past years, the tabling event is
expected to feature various pamphlets and brochures including "Do You Know A
Blind Person", the dissemination of voter registration information in
support of the national organizations point of emphasis on accessible
voting, braille alphabet and name cards, and sales of WFC candy bars and
nuts and snack food items. Susan volunteered to contact the bank to secure
permission and space for the event.

 

. WHITE CANE WALK. We decided that it would be feasible to conduct the White
Cane walk in conjunction with the MTBM tabling event. Conducting the events
simultaneously will facilitate the coordination of local publicity and is
logistically feasible as the chapter table at Ninth & Mass would be the
logical midway point between the starting point at Douglas County Court
House parking lot at 11th and Mass., and the end point at 7th and New
Hampshire.

 

. MAYOR'S WHITE CANE AND MTB PROCLAMATION. Susan offered to contact the city
manager's office to schedule the presentation of the proclamation on the
calendar of the Lawrence City Commission at a Tuesday evening meeting date
closest to October 15, the official national White Cane Safety Day. Bob
Fuller and Rob Tabor among others stated they may have electronic or hard
copies available from proclamations signed by Lawrence mayors in prior
years.

 

. ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Rob announced that Chikako has
appointed Susan and Cheryl as a nominating committee of 2 to produce and
present a slate of nominees for the offices of president, vice president,
secretary, and treasurer for the chapter. Annual membership Dues of $12 per
member are due at that time, half of which will be paid to the Kansas state
affiliate which in turn makes a per capita membership payment to NFB
national office. Rob noted this arrangement enables us to enjoy the rights,
benefits and privileges of NFB membership at all three levels of
organization. Members are encouraged to bring a prospective member to the
annual meeting on September 17, 2011.

 

. FALL-WINTER SOCIAL EVENT. Several suggestions are proposed for a social
event including a group outing to the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City,
an outing to Syder Days in Topeka, a group tour of the syder mill in
Wellsville, and a fifth anniversary event at the historic and recently
renovated Castle Tea Room at 1307 Massachusetts. Further discussion will
ensue at future chapter meetings.

 

.CHAPTER CHARTER. Bob reported that national office does not retain copies
of local chapter charters and are instead presented to the state affiliate
president for approval. This process should have occurred in 2006 but are
likely to have been short circuited due to family and health crises
encountered by Suzie and Dean Stanzel who were mentors to the chapter during
its formative phase. Bob stated that a charter template is available from
national office and can easily be completed and submitted to Donna Wood for
formal acknowledgement of the chapter. Brendy moved that the charter date be
made retroactive to August 1, 2006 conditioned on approval by the state
president or the state affiliate board. Susan second and the motion
unanimously carried. Bob affirmed he would follow up to produce the charter
document template and complete the communication process with our state
president.

 

. KNOWLEDGE BASE. Today's knowledge base was presented by Cheryl Miller and
is entitled Learning Through Teaching. The talk highlights Cheryl's
experience as a teacher of students with various disabilities and the
lessons she draws about adjusting to vision loss and turning blindness into
a mere physical nuisance. Cheryl also related the story of how Chikako
encouraged her to overcome performance anxiety related to public speaking.
The talk was very positively received by attendees who found Cheryl's story
to be both informative and inspirational. The presentation was recorded and
will be made available to members in the near future. The meeting adjourned
at 4:10, which isn't bad for the late start.

 

This meeting was very productive and again a big thanks to everyone who
contributed.

 

Best regards,

Rob Tabor vice president Jayhawk Chapter NFBK

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