[Nebraska-senior-blind] Missouri's Newsletter - The Blind Missourian Fall 2015

[Robert Leslie Newman]

Dear Fellow Nebraska Seniors 

 

Here is another affiliate newsletter; from one of our nearest neighbors. 

 

The Blind Missourian

                                       September 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Learning to Read by Korey Harper                      1

Cookie Cutter Christmas by Shirley Grauel             2

My First National Convention by Erin Magoon             5

BELL: Enriching Children's Lives by Carol Coulter

          in collaboration with Debbie Wunder                    7

An Inspiring Woman by Carol Coulter

          in collaboration with Kathe Hooton                     10

Upcoming Convention by Eugene Coulter                     11

NFB Pledge

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning to Read

By Korey Harper

When I think about literacy, many things come to mind. The one thing that 

stands out to me is the process of how I learned to read and write. When I 

was a young child, I walked into Kindergarten not knowing how to read. I 

could identify some letters, but not all of them. The teacher then began 

teaching me the alphabet. After I mastered those, we went onto small words 

and then I learned how to read sentences. I would read small books to my 

teacher, and as my reading improved I went on to larger and more challenging


books. Although this process seemed simple, it was one of the most important


things I ever learned how to do. As I got older I read more and more, 

although it was not by choice; I was forced to read more due to school work.


I never appreciated the fact that I was able to read until I could no longer


do it.

I became blind at the age of seventeen and this left me without the ability 

to read or write. My injury was sudden and an unexpected event, so I was 

unprepared for it. Up until this point I never realized what a big part 

literacy played in my life. I started my senior year, just like 

Kindergarten, unable to read.  I started to learn the Braille alphabet, 

which took me several weeks. I first had to learn the dot patterns that made


up Braille Then I had to learn how to feel the dots. This was very difficult


for me because my fingers would go numb, and I was unable to feel the 

difference between the letters. I then started receiving Braille Instruction


after school four hours a week. A Braille teacher would come and help me 

learn how to read. After months of hard work I was able to read small 

sentences. Then my after school training became more intense. I thought I 

was almost done with the training but soon found out it had only just begun.

I had already learned grade one Braille. I did not know there was such a 

thing as grade two Braille. This is a series of contractions that makes 

Braille easier and faster to read. There were over one hundred contractions 

I had to learn, and although I thought it was impossible, I never gave up. 

This was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was similar to learning another


alphabet, and this was, to say the 1.

least, difficult for me. I did not think the lessons would ever end. It 

became more and more difficult as each day passed. The training increased 

from four hours a week to eight hours a week.

I was told by many people that I would not learn Braille by the end of my 

senior year. They said I should just try to learn the alphabet because 

anything else was impossible in just one year. I knew I could do better than


that. Although I did not think Braille would be as difficult as it was, I 

mastered my alphabet in what seemed like a decade, but my teacher said I 

learned it relatively fast. Even though learning Braille was challenging for


me, I am very proud that I did it. Braille is rarer than print, but the 

small amounts found inside buildings are very helpful to me.  I am able to 

read again, and that is an amazing feeling. I am not very fast at reading 

Braille, but my accuracy is very good. In the overall scheme of things, 

learning to read has been a very important part in my life. I started my 

school career as a little boy in Kindergarten learning to read print and 

then found myself learning to read all over again in Braille my senior year.


I am so proud I have the ability to read again. Although learning Braille 

was difficult for me, I know it was one of the most important things I've 

ever learned. Even though I had to learn twice as much as most people, I 

feel like it made me appreciate literacy more than I ever would have. The 

ability to read is a gift we are given; we should not take it for granted. 

We should all appreciate that we have the ability to read.

 

 

Editor's note: The following article took second prize in the adult division


of the National Writers Division Contest. Congratulations, Shirley.

Cookie Cutter Christmas!

By Shirley Ann Grauel

I am not the best cook in the world, but I believe I am a pretty good baker!


My specialty is my Christmas cookies.  They are a true piece of art!  After 

I lost most of my vision, it became difficult to critique my masterpiece 

cookies like I was able to do in the past.  Because of my daughters, I 

learned a lesson about creativity, imagination, and the true meaning of the 

phrase, "Beauty is in the eyes of the

beholder!"  I may have missed out on all of the fun baking and decorating 

cookies with my girls growing up due to my anal ways, but now, because of 

the important lesson I learned, I enjoy the time I spend baking with my 

grandchildren.

My Christmas cookies had to be "true" perfection!  The berries on my 

poinsettia leaves could only be made with red hot candies.  Santa's mittens 

always had to be red with white cuffs made with coconut frosting.  My bells 

could only have a silver ball as the ringer.  Candy cane cookies could only 

be curved to the left.  My gingerbread boy and girl had a specific dress 

code.  And for heaven sakes, you would never see a blue snowman on display! 

Sprinkles had to match to the color of icing being used.  All colors and 

designs had to be to mom's satisfaction!  What a Drill Sergeant I must have 

been.

It was past two o'clock in the morning, and I was still struggling to 

decorate my Christmas cookies like I was able to do in the past, before I 

lost my vision to Glaucoma. While holding Santa in my hand, with my nose 

only centimeters from the frosting, trying to paint his eyebrows on just 

right, I mumbled, "I might as well give up.  I can't see to do anything 

right."

My daughters Tammy and Audrea said, "Mom, let us finish them for you.  We 

promise to do them just the way you want them done."  After about another 

hour of frustration I gave in and told the girls to go ahead.  Before I went


to bed I gave them specific instructions on what colors of icing and what 

candies went with each type of cookie.  "We know!  We know!" was their 

chuckling response.

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was go and examine 

the finished product.  I shrieked, "You've got to be kidding me!" I had 

enough vision to see the orange Christmas trees, purple mittens, and blue 

poinsettias. At that moment my two darling daughters came into the kitchen 

giggling.  "You really think you're funny don't you!" I exclaimed. The girls


then took off the top layer of cookies to show me they were just trying to 

humor me.  Underneath were my prize cookies!  I gave a big sigh of relief.

That entire day, as hard as I tried, I was not completely able to let go of 

the trick my daughters played on me.  After moping around the house for 

hours, I decided to call it an early night and go to bed. As I lay in bed 

that night, I tried to figure out if I was more upset because of the loss of


vision, or was it because I realized how anal I had been all those years 

about my Christmas cookies? After hours of meditation with the Lord, I came 

to the realization that I took away some of my girls creative imagination by


imposing my artistic desires on them.

The next morning while drinking coffee and nibbling on cookies, I told my 

girls how sorry I was for being such a perfectionist.  I told them when they


got married and would be entertaining others, they would understand. 

Unfortunately so often women are still rated and viewed by what kind of 

wife/mother they are by their cooking/baking abilities.

Well, now I am a grandmother and great-grandmother too!  I look forward to 

bringing all of my cookie cutters to my grandchildren's home for some baking


fun!  The boys usually just want to eat the finished product, but the girls 

like to make all kinds of "neat" cookie designs!  My granddaughter Lain is 

my little artist. She can come up with some of the most unique ideas. Mya 

loves to sample the product as we are preparing our masterpiece. I remember 

when she was only two; she would sit on the table, with her bare little feet


covered in flour, eating the dough!  I would not have it any other way.

It has been fifteen years since that "awakening" Christmas. Since then I 

joined the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). The NFB has taught me 

that blindness does not define my character. No matter if you have been 

blind for five, ten, or even seventy five years, you can become all that you


want to become! Most of all, by learning special techniques, you can still 

accomplish your goals, making blindness nothing more than a mere nuisance.

I still love to display my award-winning Christmas cookies; but now you will


see one tray with Grandma's cookies and another with my grandchildren's 

master artwork. I will be the first one to go to their tray and taste a 

purple tree!  Better than snacking on their baked treats is the great big 

hug I get, along with the "Grandma, I love you!"

 

 

My First National Convention

By Erin Magoon

Going to my first national convention was an exciting, thrilling, and 

exhausting time!  I arrived on Saturday, July 4 and spent the evening 

settling in and trying to learn the hotel.  The hotel was set out very well;


however it was still hard to learn to navigate, even with help from my furry


fellow companion.

I participated in as much of the convention as I could. There were so many 

meetings and activities to choose from that it was impossible to attend 

everything I would have liked to. I had to make some tough choices, and I 

was able to do most of what I really wanted to do. These activities included


helping out in the affiliate suite, attending lots of meetings, helping at 

the affiliate table, wandering around, and buying items from the exhibit 

hall and meeting new people. Friends and I also worked out a plan to record 

some meetings for each other so that we could attend more things and share 

the information later. It wasn't the same as being there, but it was the 

best we could do.

I found it informative to hear from the people involved with technology. It 

was good not only hearing from well-known companies such as Humanware, 

Freedom Scientific, Learning Ally, AT Guys, and Bookshare but also talking 

to new companies (for me) such as Baum, the Independence Market, and HIMS 

INC. It was nice having them all right there so you could do a hands on 

comparison and ask questions about new and old products.

The exhibit hall was not only filled with technology companies but affiliate


and divisions selling items as well. Visiting the different affiliate tables


and meeting and talking to new people were loads of fun as well.  Everyone 

was really friendly, outgoing, and helpful when you needed help. The only 

bad part about the exhibit  hall is that it can be hard on your feet and 

your wallet.

I also attended the craft show. I never enjoyed going to arts and craft 

fairs as a child and really did not think I would enjoy it at convention.  I


was happily very much mistaken.  Unlike at the fairs I remember going to, 

everyone encouraged you to touch and try on their jewelry, smell their soaps


and lotions, and I even made an origami dog which was really cool.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015, at 7:00 AM the National Federation of the Blind 

broke a Guinness World Record by having the largest umbrella mosaic. We 

spelled out Live the Life You Want in white umbrellas on a blue background. 

It also included a figure from our new logo. That was pretty awesome. My 

only regret is that I was ill and wasn't sure I would be able to stand in 

the heat for that long. I was waiting in the lobby and outside in spirit.

The actual general session part of the convention was a lot of fun and quite


different from any state conventions I have attended. It was very 

interesting hearing about what the other states were doing and how many 

scholarship winners they had and so on. I liked the way the resolutions were


done. Since there were so many of them and it would have taken forever to 

read them all out loud, President Riccobono had the person just read the BE 

IT RESOLVED, and we passed most of them that way. It was also extremely 

interesting to see how it was handled in case you could not tell if the 

resolution had passed or not. There are thousands of people at the 

convention and sometimes it is hard to tell, so the delegates of each state 

poll their membership and announce that state's official vote. I liked the 

way this was done and now understand the purpose of us sending delegates to 

the convention.

We were able to hear the presidential report given by President Mark 

Riccobono, which covered all the work we have done on a national level this 

past year. This report really lets you know why we are an organization to be


reckoned with. A sampling of other topics covered were defending our rights 

to parent, accessibility of automatic teller machines, and advancing civil 

rights for the blind. A fun presentation that got the crowd moving was a 

history of our federation music. We sang along with a band that played songs


that had been written about the different struggles we have had through the 

years. We were not able to hear from National Library Service (NLS), and I 

was very disappointed about that.

One of the differences between the national convention and our state 

convention that I noticed and did not like was that there was not enough 

time to take questions or comments from the floor.  The only exception was 

resolutions, where a lot of discussion took place. While I didn't like it, I


do understand that if everything was open for discussion with such a large 

group, we would never get through the agenda.

The banquet was great; I had a great time seeing all the scholarships given 

out and President Riccobono's first convention speech.  I would have liked 

to have seen some entertainment or a little more fun after the banquet. I 

guess I just didn't want the night to end.  All in all it was a fabulous 

convention, I am very glad I went, and I will definitely be going back!

 

 

BELL: Enriching Children's Lives

By Carol Coulter in collaboration with Debbie Wunder

On July 20-31, 2015, we held our second Braille Enrichment for Literacy and 

Learning Program (BELL) in St. Louis, Missouri at the Delta Gamma Center. It


was so exciting to see our enrollment double from the five students last 

year to ten this year. We believe another fact that speaks volumes for the 

program's success is that four out of the five students returned this year. 

We had children from six to thirteen years old with several in the eight to 

nine year old range.

The students learned a lot of Braille this year. They used the slate and 

stylus, Braille Writers, and some of the students even used electronic 

devices. Depending on where they were with their Braille skills, some of the


children even learned some Unified English Braille (UEB).

One of our BELL students this year was a second grade boy who had absolutely


no Braille skills at all; by the end of the second week he had learned the 

entire alphabet and was able to write simple sentences. When the parents 

came that last Friday for a little bit of a show, he read the sentences he 

had written aloud.  He just amazed us all.

We took time out for some physical activities. There is only so long you can


sit and read and write Braille. In the motor room the children used the 

climbing wall, played Braille games, and sang songs. They also had outdoor 

time when it was not too hot or raining.

We took the children on two field trips. The first one was to the West 

County Safety House. This was a fire house set up to let children really 

experience what it is like when there is an emergency in their home. First 

they talked about fire safety and then a simulation of a tornado. Next they 

took the children to a child's bedroom and showed them, with a door that 

actually heated up, how to see if it was safe to open that door or not. So 

now if the door is hot how are you going to get out of the house? They 

showed the children how to climb out of the window on to this little pitched


roof where firemen were waiting to help them. The staff then let the 

children touch several pieces of equipment and explained what it was used 

for. One of the firemen dressed in full gear and let the children hear what 

he sounded like when he talked with his respirator on. He also let them feel


his entire uniform from his hat to his boots. We commend him for his 

patience. All of the people at the fire house were wonderful with the 

students. It was an outstanding educational experience.

The second field trip was to Soulard Market. This was a farmer's market, 

where the children were able to feel and smell all kinds of fruits and 

vegetables. There were things familiar to the children such as bananas, 

strawberries, and watermelons, but they also were able to experience less 

familiar things like a whole coconut, a donut peach, eggplant, kumquat, and 

kiwi. We not only felt and smelled the produce, but we bought some to take 

back and have as a snack. What a delicious field trip.

We were able to add a music portion to our BELL Program this year thanks to 

the wonderful mother-daughter team of Shawnee and Halley Korff. They came to


join us during our second week of BELL all the way from the Kansas City 

area. Shawnee is a music teacher, and she brought all kinds of fun 

percussion instruments for the children to play. The children particularly 

liked the bucket drums and learned about rhythm. Shawnee and Halley also 

taught the children how to play "Hot Cross Buns" on the recorder and even 

let them keep their recorders; how generous. We would like to thank Shawnee 

and Halley again, not only for the gifts to the children, but also for 

coming to teach and letting us enjoy Halley's beautiful violin playing. 

Having the music classes was a huge hit.

Another guest who joined us during the second week was Rosina Foster, 

President of our Parents of Blind Children Division. Rosina visited with 

parents and joined in on our daily activities. She also came baring gifts. 

Rosina brought several Braille books for the children to take home with 

them. Thank you, Rosina, for helping foster Braille literacy and sharing 

your time with us.

A big thank you goes out to the rest of our volunteers:  Debbie Wunder, 

Adnan Gutic, Chris Tisdal, Bryan Schulz, Dacia Cole, Julie McGinnity, Carol 

and Elisabeth Coulter, Rhonda Damron, and Kathy Hurley.

First, thanks to Debbie Wunder for coordinating the BELL Program again this 

year. It is a big job getting both students and staff, because both are 

needed in order to have a successful program. Adnan Gutic volunteered to be 

our Braille instructor again. He turned down a paying job at the Missouri 

School for the Blind for the summer so he could join us at BELL and work for


free; how admirable, thank you, Adnan.

 

Chris Tisdal is forever sort of an angel there at Bell, doing anything and 

everything that he can, from carrying heavy stuff for us to working on the 

slate and stylus with the children. He has even cooked a meal or two. Chris 

does it all. Bryan Schulz also returned to help this year. He helped our 

children climb the rock wall, worked on the slate and stylus with some of 

them, and he was just a huge help.

Dacia Cole and Julie McGinnity did a wonderful job working with the children


on their Braille, whether it be on slate and stylus, Braille Writer, or some


electronic device. Dacia said that some of these children knew more about 

technology than she did. Julie also let some of the children experience what


it was like to walk with a guide dog. Carol Coulter tried to keep everything


organized, helped supervise children, grocery shopped, and did whatever else


Debbie needed her to do. Of course those of us from Columbia couldn't have 

gotten there if it wasn't for Elisabeth Coulter. Thank you, Elisabeth, for 

safely getting a very packed van to and from St. Louis. She also made a 

special trip to St. Louis to drive for our first field trip.

A special thank you also goes out to Rhonda Damron and Kathy Hurley. Even 

though they had brought their children, they both helped with driving for 

field trips, running errands, and helping out in any way we needed.  Kathy 

also did a craft project with the students. Once again, thank you to all who


helped make this year's BELL a success and we hope we did not leave anyone 

out.

If anyone ever wondered if the BELL Program was worth doing, then you should


know that one of the parents was so excited that she called the Louisiana 

Center for the Blind and talked to Pam Allen. She said I want someone who is


definitely in authority to know what kind of an experience we had with the 

BELL Program. I told all these other people but they may not realize how 

wonderful it was so I want to make sure that the national people understand 

that this was just really super. The mother was a mobility instructor so it 

wasn't like this was her first contact with the blindness field, and so she 

was blown away to get any kind of service at all. This was a person who 

knows what good service should be and still believed that it was so far 

above the rest that it was worthy of comment.

The students learned a lot but so did we. We had a great time and thank you 

all for making it happen this year. We hope we can offer the BELL Program 

again next year but it takes funding so if you believe that this is a 

worthwhile program please help by pledging your support both financially and


by volunteering. Wouldn't it be great if we could do BELL in two locations!

 

 

An Inspiring Woman

By Carol Coulter in collaboration with Kathe Hooton

Helen Parker was born on April 15, 1921, in Ft. Scott, Kansas. She has one 

brother and three sisters, one of which was her twin. They lived in the 

country until she was in junior high when they moved to town.  Her father 

was a steam engineer for a flour milling company in Kansas, where they grew 

lots of wheat.

 

Helen worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at the hospital in 

Neosho, Missouri after graduating from high school, and that sparked her 

interest in nursing.  She really wanted to go to school to become a 

Registered Nurse, but because of the cost her parents were not able to send 

her.  During WWII she worked as a CNA at the Army hospital in Ft. Crowder, 

which was located south of Neosho, Missouri.

 

In 1940 Helen met her husband at a restaurant which had a dance hall 

attached to it.  Someone was playing the juke box and her husband asked her 

to dance.  That's when their romance began.  They were married in 1941. They


had seven children, nine grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.

 

Helen said she began to lose her sight gradually, and she thinks by around 

1960 she had completely lost her vision due to retinitis pigmentosa.  Helen 

said her husband was a great deal of help during this time, and the children


learned to help out as well. Her husband passed away in 1987.

 

Helen loves reading and has also done a bit of traveling.  She has traveled 

to London, England; Rome, and Hawaii with her son and daughter-in-law and 

has made several trips to the west coast to see family.  She said European 

people seem much friendlier to sight-impaired people than those in the 

United States.

 

Helen was and still is very active. For thirty plus years she swam twice a 

week at the university with friends but finally gave it up.  Helen plays 

violin at her church fund raisers and is a popular feature for them.  She is


also very committed to the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and does 

all she can to get new members to come to her local chapter.  She travels 

around the area, speaking at schools and talking on the radio about 

blindness when she can.

 

A good friend helped Helen write her memoirs, which was meant mostly for her


family, but I am told it is a very interesting book.  She said she had a 

hundred

copies printed; they are all gone, and she has been asked for more. Helen, 

if you have more printed please save one for me; I would love to read it. 

Helen is a very humble person and says she doesn't know why anyone would 

want to read about her, but how she managed to navigate having a big family 

and raising them as a blind woman does make interesting reading.

 

Helen is ninety-four years old and lives alone in her house in Rolla. She 

states that she is not afraid to live alone even though she is totally 

blind. Helen said God has taken care of her all her life, and He is not 

going to quit now.  She is a very good cook and enjoys having people over to


eat with her. Helen has so many friends who take her wherever she wants to 

go; she says she is too busy to get lonely. The South Central Chapter is 

very lucky to have such a go-getter as their leader. Kathe Hooton, a fellow 

chapter member said, "Anyone who is feeling down only has to visit with 

Helen for a little while and they will feel so much better.  She is so 

cheerful and positive." What a beautiful thing to say, and I would like to 

thank Kathe for her help with this article. I couldn't have done it without 

her help.

 

 

 

Upcoming Convention

By Gene Coulter

Our Springfield Chapter is delighted to invite you to the fifty-fourth 

annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri from 

April 1-3, 2016, to help us celebrate the fourtieth birthday of the NFB 

Springfield Chapter. The chapter continues to work hard to spread our motto 

to the Springfield area...live the life you want!

In 1838 the town of Springfield was established. National attention was 

given to Springfield in 1858 when the city became a stop on the Butterfield 

Overland Mail, a stagecoach line from Tipton, Missouri to San Francisco.

Springfield is recognized as the birthplace of Route 66. In 1938 Route 66 

became the first US numbered road in America - the "Mother Road" - 

stretching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Coast.

 

Our convention will be at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, 2431 North 

Glenstone, with room rates of $84.00 per night plus 12.6% tax for one to 

four people in a room. To make reservations call 417-831-3131. The costs for


the planned meals are unchanged. In fact our lunches and prayer breakfast in


many cases will be less expensive than the hotel's own restaurant. The 

registration forms will be posted on the NFBMO.org website in mid-October.

 

 

PLEDGE OF THE

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of


the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind: to 

support the policies and programs of the Federation and to abide by its 

Constitution.

 

 

Members and friends of the National Federation of the Blind raising 

umbrellas to spell,

"Live the life you want"

 

 

Board of Directors

National Federation of the Blind of Missouri

 

Officers:

Gary Wunder, President                                 Shelia Wright, First 

Vice President

Julie McGinnity, Second Vice President         Dacia Cole, Recording 

Secretary

Erin Magoon, Corresponding Secretary        Carol Coulter, Treasurer

 

Board Members:

Eugene Coulter                                   Gene Fleeman

Gary Horchem                                     Dan Flasar

Chris Tisdal                                         Melissa Smith

Daniel Garcia

 

Chapter Presidents

Debbie Wunder, Columbia                            Helen Parker, South 

Central

Rita Lynch, Jefferson City                               Erin Magoon, 

Springfield

Ruby Polk, Kansas City                                   Bryan Schulz, St. 

Louis

Chris Tisdal, Lewis and Clark                         Dan Keller, Show-Me 

State Chapter

Roger Crome, Mineral Area Chapter

 

Blind Missourian Editor Carol Coulter

Proof Readers Helen Stevens, Shelia Wright, and Gary Wunder

Read by Elisabeth Coulter

 

 

 

 

 

NFB of Missouri

1504 Furlong Dr.

Columbia, MO  65202

 

 

 

 

 

 

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