[Nebraska-senior-blind] {Spam?} Seniors - another affiliate newsletter - Ohio 2016 Fall - the Ohio Buckeye Bulletin

[Robert Leslie Newman]

It is super important to never forget that we are a national organization!
And it is fun and educational to learn about what other blind people are
doing to enhance their lives’, and those of the sighted people in their
state.

 

Fall 2016 Buckeye Bulletin 

A publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

 

 

Barbara Pierce, Editor 

198 Kendal Drive 

Oberlin, OH 44074 

barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com <mailto:barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com> 

(440) 774-8077

http://www.nfbohio.org 

 

Richard Payne, President 

1019 Wilmington Ave., APT. 43, 

Kettering, OH 45420 

(937) 829-3368 

rchpay7 at gmail.com <mailto:rchpay7 at gmail.com> 

 

 

 

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise
expectations, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people
and our dreams. Live the live you want. Blindness is not what holds you
back.

 

The National Federation of the Blind of Ohio is a 501 (c) 3 consumer
organization comprised of blind and sighted people committed to changing
what it means to be blind. Though blindness is still all too often a tragedy
to those who face it, we know from our personal experience that with
training and opportunity it can be reduced to the level of a physical
nuisance. We work to see that blind people receive the services and training
to which they are entitled and that parents of blind children receive the
advice and support they need to help their youngsters grow up to be happy,
productive adults. We believe that first-class citizenship means that people
have both rights and responsibilities, and we are determined to see that
blind people become first-class citizens of these United States, enjoying
their rights and fulfilling their responsibilities. The most serious
problems we face have less to do with our lack of vision than with
discrimination based on the public’s ignorance and misinformation about
blindness. Join us in educating Ohioans about the abilities and aspirations
of Ohio’s blind citizens. We are changing what it means to be blind. 

 

The NFB of Ohio has eight local chapters, one for at-large members, and
special divisions for diabetics, merchants, seniors, guide dog users, and
those interested in Braille. This newsletter appears three times a year and
is circulated by email, posted on NFB-NEWSLINE®, our digitized
newspaper-reading service by phone, and can be read or downloaded from our
website, www.nfbohio.org <http://www.nfbohio.org> . For information about
the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio or to make address changes or
be added to the mailing list, call (440) 774-8077 or email
barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com <mailto:barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com> . For
information about NFB-NEWSLINE, our free digitized newspaper-reading
service, call (866) 504-7300. Local NEWSLINE numbers are: 330-247-1241
(Akron), 330-409-1900 (Canton), 513-297-1521 (Cincinnati), 216-453-2090
(Cleveland), and 614-448-1673 (Columbus).

 

The NFB now has a vehicle donation program. For complete information go to
www.nfb.org/vehicledonations <http://www.nfb.org/vehicledonations>  or call
our toll-free vehicle donation number (855) 659-9314.

 

Table of Contents

>From the President's Desk   2

70th Annual Convention of the NFB of Ohio: Don’t Miss it        3

Introduction to the DoubleTree     4

Meet Anil Lewis: Counselor, Advocate, and Father 5

Introducing the 2016 Scholarship Winners     7

Meet a Federation Family: Michael, Heather, and Alex Leiterman     8

BELL Academy 2016  9

2016 NFBO BELL Academy Evening Activities      11

Editor’s Musing  11

My First NFB National Convention         12

A Good Read     13

Let's Dance: How I Dealt with Choreography 14

Recipe Corner    16

Simple and Easy Rum Cake         16

Ugly Apple Cake          16

Nacho Pie 17

Mexican Mix Casserole        17

Buckeye Briefs   18

Activities Calendar      21

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio - 2016 Convention     23

Pre-Registration Form and Payment Instructions    23

 

**********

>From the President's Desk

by Richard Payne

 

It was Around April Fool's day when a friend in the movement called me and
said that he was leaving Ohio. As you now know, it was Eric Duffy, and he
was the president of the NFB of Ohio. When he and Dr. Smith told me that I
would have to become the president of the NFB of Ohio before the end of the
week, I recognized that it was no April Fool's joke but serious business.

 

Eric explained that he was leaving for a new job. While that was great news
for him, it was shocking news for the affiliate and for me. We went on to
speak about things that needed to happen very fast like the appointment of a
vice president. Eric and I have shared many good times and worked together
to keep the NFB of Ohio active. Ohio will not be able to replace him; our
challenge will be to pick up all the things that he was doing and try to go
on as he would want us to do. The good thing is that he will remain a
Federation member. I know he will do very well in New Jersey and this new
adventure. Yes, you can safely assume that I pick up the phone often to get
his opinion and advice. I will often wonder what decisions he would have
made for the rest of the year.

 

I began to consider who the new vice president should be. The NFB had to
keep moving in a positive way, so I decided that Sherri Albers would work
well with me and hard for us. I asked her if she would serve as my vice
president, and thankfully she said yes. This has proven to be a great
working relationship.

 

I will not promise to lead in the same way as others have, but I will
guarantee that I will make every effort to represent the NFB and keep the
issues that we have decided on at the front of our agenda. I would like to
see more of you active in everything that we do. When our chapters and
divisions work together, we are able to change what it means to be blind.

 

We must keep our obligations and responsibilities. I am proud that many of
you have reached out to me and been willing to work together. I think that
we have made the transition a great one. We have more work to do than most
of you know, but, if we continue to develop trust and wisdom, we will grow
and change policy and programs for the blind of Ohio and the nation. This
will take us all doing our parts.

 

The Marching for Independence Campaign was a great success. A number of
members of the NFB and their friends and family worked hard together during
the Flying Pig Marathon to staff a station during the race. We have begun
developing and strengthening partnerships with people and agencies that can
help us in many ways while we continue to build the NFB of Ohio. We decided
in June to get involved in the first Charity Day Race in Columbus, Ohio, and
I am very excited that we took part in it. This was collaboration between
several nonprofits.

 

We continue to make every effort to make the NFB a household name. Several
people have committed to our resolution and the legislation efforts that
were already in place. We still need to reach out to the Ohio House of
Representatives and invite them to meetings and other events and talk about
our ongoing programs. Yes, this is an election year, and elected officials
will be busy trying to get themselves reelected. But people who are in
office now will be especially open to talking with us as they campaign for
re-election, so we can use this time to make friends. When Congressman John
Lewis participated in the marching for independence campaign at our Atlanta
convention with over 1000 people in attendance, my belief of what we could
do as an organization was reconfirmed. I heard him say that marching is a
tremendous tool of individual empowerment and social change. We used it in
the Civil Rights Movement to dramatize our struggle against social
injustice, and our March for Independence of the blind is simply a
modern-day extension of that call for change. We must do just what any other
family does--share in all our many accomplishments and defeats. NFB members
are the leaders in the blindness field. No one knows more about being blind
than the NFB.

 

**********

70th Annual Convention of the NFB of Ohio: Don’t Miss it

by Sheri Albers

 

Editor’s note: NFB of Ohio Vice President Sheri Albers is also convention
chairperson again this year. Here is what she has to say about the up-coming
convention:

 

On behalf of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, you are cordially
invited to attend our Platinum Anniversary Convention in Independence, Ohio.
This historic event will be held the weekend of Friday, November 11, through
Sunday, November 13, 2016. We will be returning to the DoubleTree by Hilton
Hotel, 6200 Quarry Lane, Independence, Ohio 44131, phone, (216) 447-1300.
Room rates are $89 per night plus tax. Our block of rooms will be released
on October 21. Please make your reservations now. Be sure to let the hotel
know if you need an accessible room or have any other special requirements
related to your room.

 

The theme for this year’s convention is Marching for Independence, just as
our NFB founders did those seventy years ago and just as we continue to do
every day to build the Federation. We are privileged to have as our national
representative Anil Lewis, executive director of the National Federation of
the Blind Jernigan Institute. Anil joined the Federation in 1995, and since
then he has made a significant contribution to the quality of life and
rights, not only for blind people, but for people of all disabilities across
the country.

 

We will kick off our convention with the Board of Directors meeting on
Friday morning at 11:00 AM. Remember that this is an open meeting for all
members of the Federation and their guests to attend, not just the board
members. This is the one meeting of the entire weekend that you will get a
chance to see and hear from your elected board, discussing pertinent issues
that directly affect all of us as an affiliate, as well as learning what
activities are happening around the state. We strongly recommend that at
least one representative from each chapter be present at this meeting to
bring a report home to share with those who were not able to attend.

 

The official convention will commence on Friday afternoon, with the gavel
falling before opening ceremonies and general sessions promptly at 2:00 PM.
We will have a series of speakers covering a wide range of topics, including
a report from our national representative, rehabilitation services, library
services, legislation, and health and wellness. We will also have a special
guest from our national office, Bryan Duarte, who will be representing the
National Association of Blind Students Division (NABS).

 

Friday evening will see a flurry of activity. First and foremost, our
Hospitality Suite will open its doors at 5:30 PM. Your hosts will be the
Cleveland Chapter, and they will do all they can to make you feel welcome.
They are also planning some enjoyable activities for your visit. Light
snacks and beverages will be available for your comfort. The At-Large
Chapter and the Ohio Association of Blind Merchants Division will hold their
annual business meetings that evening. The Nominations and Resolutions
Committee meetings will also take place. Of course the Ohio Association to
Promote the Use of Braille (OAPUB) Division will not disappoint and will
again entertain us later that evening with one of their wonderful radio play
readings. Admission will be $5 at the door. This is an event you will surely
not want to miss as you show your support for Braille.

 

Saturday will begin with a breakfast business meeting of OAPUB at 7:00 AM,
so, if you care about Braille, be sure to sign up for the OAPUB continental
breakfast meeting when you register. The Diabetes Action Network will also
conduct its meeting in Shula’s Restaurant over breakfast ordered off the
menu. If you are a diabetic, please try to attend this meeting to help the
division reorganize.

 

The gavel will again fall promptly at 9:00AM to continue general sessions.
We will have door prizes scattered through the morning if, of coerces,
members bring them and turn them in to Suzanne Turner. We will break at 12
noon for lunch. The Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users (OAGDU) Division and
the National Association of Blind Seniors will conduct their annual business
meetings. Boxed lunches will be available for purchase for meeting attendees
or those who just want to get a lunch on-the-go. Be sure to order your boxed
lunch when you register for the convention.

 

The afternoon promises provocative workshops on promoting leadership,
membership building, and successful employment strategies. We are also
bringing back our Exhibit Hall. Vendors will be available to us from 12:00
noon to 5:00 PM demonstrating their high-tech and low-tech products for
blind and visually impaired users. Chapters and divisions will also have the
opportunity to hold fundraisers in this exhibit area.

 

Our banquet this year proves to be a memorable one, with our master of
ceremonies Dr. JW Smith at the helm. This is traditionally the highlight of
the convention. We will get a chance to have fellowship and share a meal
together. Our keynote speaker will be our national representative Anil
Lewis. We will then have our Gavel Awards ceremony to celebrate chapter and
division accomplishments from the past year. The finale of the banquet is
always the awards to our deserving scholarship winners. This is an event you
will not want to miss. Be sure to order your banquet meal when you register
for the convention. Don’t worry, the night is not over – plans are in the
works for an after-banquet activity to be announced.

 

Sunday is the day we relax a little and reflect on the past few days and
think about where we are headed in the future. Elections will be held for
all executive officers and two at-large members of the board.

 

Our Convention Planning Committee, chaired by our president, Richard Payne,
is committed to making this our best convention yet. His goal is to bring
you the most up-to-date information on the most important issues facing
blind people in the state of Ohio today. The Cuyahoga Chapter will be ready
to greet you bright and early at 9:00 AM on Friday morning to hand out your
registration packets and agendas. As chair of convention arrangements, I
will make sure that the hotel facility, which includes staff,
accommodations, guide dog relief areas, meeting rooms, dining areas, and
common areas, is as blind-friendly as possible and that your convention
experience is as positive as it can be. My name is Sheri Albers, and my
phone number is (513) 886-8697. I will be the one you call if you encounter
any problems during your stay at convention. I hope you will join us in
celebrating our seventy years of history as we March to Independence.

 

**********

Introduction to the DoubleTree

by Barbara Pierce

 

Editor’s note: As you now know, we return to the hotel were we held last
year’s convention. Since the floor plan has not changed in that facility, we
are reprinting last year’s article about the layout of the hotel with only a
few edits. Here it is:

 

As you now know, this year's convention will take place November 11 to 13 at
the DoubleTree by Hilton in Independence. This is a lovely facility with
delicious food. The entrance is on the north side of the hotel, which means
that you are facing south as you enter. If you step forward a few feet, the
registration desk will be on the right (west) side of the lobby. Seating
groups of furniture are in the center of the lobby, and Shula's Restaurant
and Bar is located on the east wall. You pass through the bar before
reaching restaurant seating. Wait in the bar to be seated.

 

After checking in, continue walking south. You will notice a corridor
turning west (right). This leads to the sleeping rooms and the elevators to
the upper floors. As you walk down this hall, west, you will pass on your
right first the Directors Room and then the Boardroom. These are small
meeting rooms, and they are close to the lobby end of the hall. This
corridor dead ends into an exit with grass outside it. This is the dog
relief area, and a trash receptacle will be located outside the door for
your convenience. Back in that hallway turn left at that door (south) to
reach sleeping rooms and the elevator; both of these are found on the left
side of the hallway only. At the south end of the hall you can turn right to
find Room 121, our hospitality room, or left (east) to walk along a hall
that connects with the south end of the foyer area outside the ballrooms,
which are also our principal breakout rooms.

 

Returning to the lobby just before the right turn to pass the Directors Room
and Boardroom, you can also angle forty-five degrees to the left in a
corridor that passes the access to the indoor and outdoor swimming pools and
the business center on the right. This hall opens into the ballroom area.
There are two ballrooms, both on the left side. The first is the Grand
Ballroom with division rooms 1, 2, and 3 going south. Next is a carpeted
hall to the left (east) which gives access on the right side to Petit
Ballrooms A and B. Rooms C, D, and E lie to the south of these two smaller
rooms. Note that the only access to rooms A and B is from the cross hall.
There are restrooms in the foyer on the east side before the ballrooms and
also around the hallways near the elevators.

 

That's it. Read through this article several times, pausing after reading
each new element to build a map in your head. If you take time to do this,
you will sail through the convention with no problems. All rooms are marked
in Braille and raised print in the standard locations. Happy travels.

 

**********

Meet Anil Lewis: Counselor, Advocate, and Father

Editor’s note: Our national rep this year will be Anil Lewis. Here is the
bio that he sent Richard Payne:

 

Anil Lewis was born in 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the third of four
children. Both his older brother and older sister became legally blind at an
early age from retinitis pigmentosa. Lewis was originally labeled educably
mentally retarded but eventually became the first member of his family to
graduate from college. He has excelled academically, received many awards,
participated as a leader in many extracurricular activities, and received
several college scholarships. Although he was finally diagnosed at age nine
with retinitis pigmentosa, his vision was fairly unaffected until age
twenty-five.

 

Currently employed as the executive director of the National Federation of
the Blind Jernigan Institute, located in Baltimore, Maryland, he coordinates
outreach, marketing, and fund raising activities for the national nonprofit
organization. He leads a dynamic team responsible for the creation,
development, implementation, and replication of innovative projects and
programs throughout a nationwide network of affiliates that work to improve
the education, employment, and quality of life of all blind people.

 

Previously as the Director of Advocacy and Policy for the NFB, Lewis was
responsible for a variety of public policy and strategic programs. Most
notably, he was the legislative lead of the NFB’s efforts to repeal Section
14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, an obsolete provision that allows
employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum
wage. As the Director of Strategic Communications for the NFB, Lewis
coordinated the public relations campaign for the NFB’s Blind Driver
Challenge™, an innovative research project to develop nonvisual access
technology that will make it possible for a blind person to operate an
automobile safely and independently.

 

As a sighted man he fairly easily found respectable employment with wages
high above the minimum wage. Then in 1989, while pursuing his bachelor’s of
business administration in computer information systems at Georgia State
University (GSU), he became blind from retinitis pigmentosa. "All of a
sudden doors that had been open to me slammed shut," Lewis said. At that
point, although he had always considered himself socially aware, he became
personally acquainted with actual social injustice and discrimination. "I am
ashamed that only personal experience brought this awakening and decision to
take action. But I am proud that I did take action and remain committed
today to making a difference in the lives of others."

 

Lewis received blindness skills training while completing his course
requirements for his degree at GSU. He quickly learned the alternative
skills of blindness, including Braille, activities of daily living,
assistive technology, and use of the long white cane. He capitalized on them
to graduate with his bachelor’s degree from Georgia State in 1993. "It was a
struggle to regain the life that blindness had appeared to take from me.
Almost everyone who had once respected me now pitied me, but I was
determined not to be redefined by my blindness." Armed with these new skills
and this new determination, he quickly became committed to ensuring that
others in similar situations could get appropriate training and unlimited
opportunities.

 

Lewis got a job as a Braille and assistive technology instructor. Within a
year he was given the greater responsibility of job development/placement
specialist, helping clients develop employment skills and get jobs. "I had
had no experience helping anyone other than myself get a job. I certainly
did not have expertise in job placement for blind people." It was during
this time that he first became aware of the National Federation of the
Blind. A friend referred him to the NFB when he had questions about Social
Security work incentives and needed information about tools and strategies
to help blind people obtain employment. As a result he attended his first
NFB convention in Chicago, Illinois, in 1995 and became aware of the
empowering philosophy and tremendous resource of the National Federation of
the Blind. The technical assistance materials produced by the NFB’s Job
Opportunities for the Blind (JOB) program and the NFB’s Social Security and
technical assistance information provided resources enabling him to
motivate, educate, and encourage other blind people to achieve successful
gainful employment. "My success as a job placement specialist was a direct
result of my ability to infuse NFB philosophy into the clients I worked
with."

 

Lewis went on to develop and manage a job placement program for people with
disabilities as the manager of the Disability Employment Initiative with
Randstad Staffing, one of the largest employment staffing companies in the
world, during the Atlanta Olympic and Para-Olympic Games in 1996. From then
until early 2006 he was employed by the law offices of Martin and Jones as
the Georgia Client Assistance Program (CAP) counselor/advocate, representing
people with disabilities every day. He served as a disability consultant
working with companies in Georgia until 2010.

 

He became president of the Atlanta Metropolitan Chapter of the NFB of
Georgia in 2000 and was elected president of the NFB of Georgia in 2002. In
that year he also received the Kenneth Jernigan Memorial Scholarship, the
NFB’s most prestigious award presented to a blind student, which he used to
obtain his master’s degree in public administration with emphasis in policy
analysis and program evaluation from GSU in 2003. That year he was also
elected as a member of the National Federation of the Blind Board of
Directors. He received an Outstanding Alumnus award from GSU in 1997 and was
also a 2003 GSU Torch Bearer of Peace Award recipient. In 2004 the American
Bar Association presented Lewis with their Paul G. Hearn Advocacy Award. In
2006 Lewis was named alumnus of the year by Leadership DeKalb, a community
leadership development organization in DeKalb County, Georgia. Lewis is also
a graduate of the Leadership Georgia program, class of 2008, and the Greater
Baltimore Leadership Program Class of 2015.

 

Lewis has dedicated his leadership skills to the development and growth of
disability rights organizations that promote independence and improved
quality of life. He was appointed by the governor as a board member and
served as president of the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) of
Georgia, an organization promoting independent living for those with severe
disabilities. He also served as the founding chairman of the board of
directors of the Disability Law and Policy Center (DLPC) of Georgia, which
used a variety of methods to influence and enforce disability policy. Lewis
was appointed by the Governor of Maryland and currently serves on the
Maryland Statewide Rehabilitation Council, which takes an active and visible
role in how Maryland's public vocational rehabilitation program is
administered. As a newly appointed board member of the American Association
of People with Disabilities, Lewis helps promote equal opportunity, economic
power, independent living, and political participation for people with
disabilities. He has also been appointed by President Obama as a member of
the Committee for Purchase from People who are Blind or Severely Disabled,
known as The U. S. AbilityOne Commission, which administers the AbilityOne
Program, a unique employment program sponsored by the Federal Government
serving the needs of people who are blind or have other significant
disabilities.

 

All of these organizations recognize that people with disabilities are
integral, necessary members of society and reflect the world’s normal
diversity. Further, each works to ensure that the policies and programs
developed for people with disabilities are created and implemented by people
with disabilities. By helping to develop and strengthen such institutions to
serve as a cornerstone in protecting the rights of people with disabilities,
he hopes to secure the commitment and support of others. He also hopes to
reduce the barriers people with disabilities face by encouraging the
implementation of public policy securing the rights and promoting the
responsible participation of the disabled as productive citizens.

 

Lewis volunteers as a teacher and mentor for blind kids, working with
promising blind students who, because of limited resources and lack of
trained professionals to teach them, are inappropriately encouraged to
pursue special education diplomas. He wants blind students to set higher
goals for themselves and to receive the training and tools they need to
acquire the skills to reach their full potential.

 

Speaking of his personal life, Anil Lewis says that his proudest
accomplishment is his bright, ambitious son Amari, born in 1997. Balancing
his many civic responsibilities with his personal life as a father is
undoubtedly his greatest challenge. His greatest success, he thinks, has
been overcoming the temptation to subside into becoming an unmotivated,
self-pitying person with a disability. He thinks his greatest contribution
so far has been to encourage other people with disabilities to believe in
themselves and to understand that they can make a difference.

 

Lewis says that lack of awareness of individuals with traits outside
society’s accepted norms promotes extreme ignorance, which in turn results
in unjustified fear, negative stereotypes, and discrimination. In an effort
to combat that ignorance, he aggressively recruits, refers, and supports
other like-minded people to become active in the National Federation of the
Blind and other organizations in the disability rights movement. He hopes to
promote social change by fostering the active participation of more people
with disabilities in every facet of society, thereby replacing ignorance
with understanding, fear with awareness, and negative stereotypes with
mutual understanding. In the process he believes that we will eliminate
discrimination against people with disabilities. "With a working knowledge
of most disability law and policy and extended experience in advocating for
the rights of others, I am committed to improving the quality of life for
all people with disabilities by working to remove the barriers of ignorance
while creating equal opportunities for all. My personal mission is simple: I
want to make a positive difference in the lives of others."

 

**********

Introducing the 2016 Scholarship Winners

by Deborah Kendrick

 

Editor’s note: Deborah Kendrick chairs the Ohio Scholarship Committee. In
the following article she introduces us to our three scholarship winners for
2016. This is what she says:

 

What do the Rubber Ducks and Tax Account+ have in common? Well, not much
except that both are passions of Joseph Chadbourne, one of our three stellar
scholarship winners for 2016. As a senior accounting major at the University
of Akron, Joe is maintaining his role as a member of the board of the Akron
Blind Center, walking the quarter mile to the games of his favorite AA
baseball team, and maintaining his 3.77 grade point average.

 

Joe's intent is to work as a tax accountant, and that choice of profession
means that, even though his senior year has only begun, he is currently
devoting much of his time to making job applications for next fall. He is
applying, he says, to the four largest public firms as well as a few
well-chosen private ones. Joe is an avid Braille user and has even worked as
a volunteer teaching Braille to others through his involvement at the Blind
Center. This will be his first NFB convention.

 

Another outstanding young scholarship winner this year is William Yznaga,
beginning first year computer science major at Cleveland State University.
Although he is just beginning his college career, William was already
successfully enrolled in college classes at Baldwin Wallace University while
he was still in high school. He spent the summer between high school and
college in a paid internship, forty hours per week, with Hyland Software,
doing what he hopes to do beyond college, writing code that will improve the
world and especially the environment.

 

William is particularly pleased with the level of accommodation at Cleveland
State. He has already spent many hours in the computer lab there, where he
has access to CCTV’s, scanners, copiers, and a gigantic iMac, providing the
most accessible computer experience he has ever had. In his first two weeks
on campus, he served as one of three students on a panel addressing
professors on the nature of disability and needs in the classroom. He says
he is delighted by the level and quality of communication between professors
and students.

 

Besides his love of technology, programming, and math, William is extremely
involved in his church and related functions. As a youth volunteer in recent
summers, he has weeded cemetery properties, provided day care, cleared
trash, and more in both his home town and as far away as St. Louis. He has
joined a Bible fellowship group on campus and hopes to join the campus math
club.

 

William’s love of learning is infectious and extends itself to his expressed
wish to learn more about other blind people and the NFB. Ours will be his
first convention, and I know we will make him welcome.

 

The third 2016 NFB Ohio scholarship winner is no stranger to Ohio
Federationists. Since April Sheri Albers has served as vice president of the
affiliate and was the 2016 BELL coordinator. Sheri was in charge of
convention arrangements for our state convention last year as well as being
one of the charming hostesses working the hospitality suite at our 2015
national convention.

 

Sheri is currently working to augment the bachelor’s degree begun
thirty-five years ago with a second degree that will enable her to work as a
substance abuse counselor. She hopes to get a job in a treatment center at
that time, helping others with addictions to drugs and alcohol.

 

We are proud to award three scholarships in 2016 to three stellar students.

 

**********

Meet a Federation Family: Michael, Heather, and Alex Leiterman

by Barbara Pierce

 

Michael Leiterman speaks with a quiet voice, but he uses a white cane that
is sixty-nine inches long. So it can truly be said that “He speaks softly
and carries a big stick.” He is six foot five and travels with confidence.

 

I first met Mike as a college student on the phone in 1999. We talked for
over an hour about the usual collection of college student problems: late
textbooks, inadequate reader service, and the like. I came away impressed by
his intelligence and sound ideas about blindness and reasonable
accommodations. He was a dean’s list biology major at the University of
Cincinnati.

 

Mike was born in southern Alabama. He and his sister were diagnosed with
retinal blastoma. In the late seventies the standard treatment of this
cancer of the eye was to remove the more affected eye and then blast the
remaining eye with radiation. No one ever told Mrs. Leiterman that blindness
did not have to be a catastrophe. So Mike spent his childhood in and out of
hospitals. His sister died following her third bout with cancer. Mike was
left with one eye with glaucoma and very compromised vision.

 

The family moved to Ohio, where Mike was enrolled in the Rio Grande school
system, where he received almost no specialized instruction. When he was
eleven, his mother moved him to the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB).
Since he could neither read nor write, administrators considered placing him
in the second grade. But they decided to try fourth grade instead, and Mike
repaid their gamble on him by working his way up to the sixth grade by the
following year. He was enchanted by the opportunity to discover the world of
the written word, and he flourished at OSSB. His junior year he spent as a
totally blind student because the doctors decided to seal his remaining eye
in an attempt to protect the cornea that they had implanted in an effort to
give him more sight. He missed a lot of school that year, but somehow he
managed to keep up with his work. He graduated from the school and was
admitted to the University of Akron.

 

Mike loved science. He thought about a major in physical therapy, but the
faculty did not know what to do with a blind student. He continued to have
excruciating pain in his eye, and he was still flying to Tennessee to see
his doctor. Taking responsibility for his own life, Mike decided to get his
Tennessee doctor to refer him to a physician in Ohio and to withdraw from
Akron University. The doctor he found was in Cincinnati, very close to the
University of Cincinnati, so Mike enrolled there as a biology major. He made
Dean’s List seven semesters, but, as suggested at the beginning of this
article, getting his work done was far from easy at UC. Still he graduated
with honors in 2001, having won an NFB scholarship in 2000.

 

He enrolled in the Widener School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. He thought
that his science background could be valuable in law, so he first considered
patent law and then settled on intellectual property law. He graduated in
2004. To say that he thrived at law school is an understatement. Here from
his curriculum vitae are his honors: Bruce and Elizabeth Minro Award for
Excellence in Intellectual Property, John C. Warington Memorial Scholarship,
highest student grade in Intellectual Property, Dean’s list three semesters,
Intensive Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP), Alternative Dispute Resolution
Honor Society, and Moe Levine Trial Advocacy Society 2003-2004.

 

When he finished law school, he decided to get his master’s before looking
for a job. He entered Georgetown University Law Center, where he received
the master of laws in taxation (LLM) in May of 2005. He took a job with the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2006 in Washington, DC.

 

For two years he was a high flier. Because he understood both the law and
the science underlying his work, he was able to turn out work at a much
faster rate than could his colleagues. Then technology began to cause
problems. Mike was caught in the frustrating catastrophe of employers who
upgrade hardware and software with no consideration of how to be sure that
access technology would work with the new technology. No matter how much
time he spent educating his supervisors, they continued to ignore his
problems. One even placed Mike’s hand on part of a page and said, “Just
enlarge this part to read.” The Section 508 compliance officer was no help
because that person had no understanding of what the problems were.
Sometimes Mike sat for hours or even days waiting for technology fixes that
he could use to do his work. The IT people burned up six computers trying to
solve the problems. This impossibly frustrating situation went on for years.

 

Finally in about 2010 Mike filed an EEOC complaint, which of course made him
unpopular with supervisory personnel. There were several mandated efforts to
settle the dispute, but the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security
were not eager to settle. At one point they offered Mike a settlement of
$10,000, but his legal costs at that point were already many times that
figure, and he was insistent that the NFB, who was paying the law firm of
Brown, Goldstein and Levy to take the case, must get its money back. They
went to litigation. All in all, the case went to two mediators and two
judges as it bounced back and forth between efforts to settle and
litigation. The legal fees mounted, though Mike says that they would have
been much higher if he had not been able to do much of the legal work
himself. Mike’s lawyers lost some key battles, but the case being built
through depositions and discovery was strong and compelling. At work Mike
was moved from branch to branch, but somehow he continued to get his work
done. His fellow lawyers nominated him to receive a merit award, though it
was never bestowed. When asked how she had learned what she knew about
access technology, the IT director deposed that Mike had taught her what she
knew and that she considered him part of her family.

 

With their own people making statements like that, it is no wonder that last
October DHS offered Mike a reasonable settlement; in fact they offered more
than they were permitted to settle for and had to spend extra time getting
permission from the Attorney General to move forward with the offer.

 

In late January of this year Mike and his family moved to Columbus, which
has a lower cost of living than the Washington, DC area. They bought a condo
two blocks from the State House, and Mike has been doing legal work for
himself since the move. It is understandable that right now he feels that he
never again wants to have a supervisor. Mike has taken some months to
recover from this multiyear nightmare, but he has not been idle. He helped
at BELL this summer and has been doing what he can to build the Columbus
chapter. Over Labor Day he attended a leadership seminar at the Jernigan
Institute.

 

Michael and Heather met at OSSB, where they became friends and Mike tutored
her in algebra even though she was older. Heather married after high school
and had three children, two of whom are legally blind. She was a parent
advocate at the school for the blind in 2000, before she moved to
Washington, DC. The two met again in 2006 after her divorce and rapidly
became interested in each other. They were married in October of 2009. Mike
takes seriously his duties as husband and father. Now that they are back in
Ohio, Heather is working toward licensure in the Business Enterprise
program. She is preparing to get a guide dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind.
She is very interested in reviving the parents division here in Ohio.

 

Their son Josh, fully sighted, is a student at Columbus State and working at
Walgreen’s. Kaitlyn is a college student in Virginia, but she is planning to
return to Ohio to continue her education. Alex is the only child living at
home. He is a junior at OSSB. He is quite poised and articulate and is
interested in track, wrestling, marching band, and guitar. He currently has
a good deal of useable vision, and the school staff is puzzled about why he
insists on using sleepshades with his cane to sharpen his travel skills in
preparation for the time when he loses more vision. He attended the national
convention this summer and is interested in working on projects with the
NFB. He also volunteered at BELL this summer.

 

Now you have met the Leiterman family. We are very lucky to have them living
in Ohio. Make them feel welcome when you meet them. They are serious about
helping to build this affiliate.

 

**********

BELL Academy 2016

by Marianne Denning and Debra Baker

 

Editor’s note: I have volunteered at all four BELL Academies. These programs
are exhausting. It is all hands on deck and working hard every hour that the
kids are awake. And trust me, the kids notice everything you do, and they
want what they want when they want it. In past years we have heaved a sigh
of relief at 4:00 o’clock when the parents arrived to carry their children
away for the evening and night. The college students stayed up afterward,
but I was in bed by 9 o’clock every night.

 

So I knew that this year was going to be taxing, to say the least. We had
three meals a day to prepare, supervise, and clean up. Then there were the
evenings to fill with activities and then the kids to get to bed. In the
mornings we did not receive the children dressed, fed, medicated, and eager
for a day of fun; we had to get them up and dressed, feed them breakfast,
and herd them over to the classroom on time. At the close of the teaching
day we still had an hour and a half or so of activities with the kids while
dinner was being prepared. Then, revived by food, they were ready for an
evening of activities while the kitchen was being tidied, ready for the next
day. Then of course there was bedtime and finding the PJ’s that had wandered
all over the cottage. Finally there was bed and persuading the children to
go to sleep so that they would be ready for the next day of nonstop
activity. After that the staff gathered together to talk about plans for the
next day. It was, as I say, exhausting.

 

Presiding over all this frenetic activity were Sheri Albers, our
indefatigable BELL coordinator, and Debbie and Marianne, our two amazing
teachers. They were everywhere at once: supervising small-group activities,
evaluating individual children, talking with parents about intractable
problems, answering questions, and planning the next activity. How they did
it and do it I will never know. I was worn out just watching them.

 

Why do we take on this activity every summer? Working with these kids is
like watching a plant respond to Miracle Gro. They flower before your eyes.
>From day to day you can observe a child mature and reach out to try new
things. They are used to having two sighted parents to follow them,
retrieving their discarded possessions and handing them the cane that they
threw down somewhere. They drop their cell phones, and a parent hands it to
them. Not so at BELL Academy. The adults are blind and don’t see the cane
lying in the middle of the floor. No one knows where a kid dropped his
phone. Her glasses are wherever she put them down. So quickly they learn to
pay attention to what they are doing and where they are putting their things
down. By the end of the week they are transformed children. They are
learning to be patient with each other and the adults around them. They
understand the importance of responding when they hear their names called.
Some of them even try to fetch their own drink or hotdog. I can’t think of
another investment of time and energy that is as gratifying as BELL Academy.
Now that you have heard the down-and-dirty account of BELL Academy, here is
the orderly and treachery summary of this year’s Academy experience as
recounted by the teachers:

 

NFB-O held its fourth annual Bell Academy at the Ohio State School for the
Blind (OSSB) from July 17 through July 22. This was our first year of a
residential camp experience. Sheri Albers stepped in as the Academy
coordinator when Eric Duffy moved to New Jersey to take a new job, and
Debbie Baker and Marianne Denning were the lead teachers. We had twelve
students from all over the state. They were between the ages of four and
fourteen, and most of them had additional disabilities. Six students were
returning, and this was the first BELL Academy experience for six students.
It was a challenge to try to meet the needs of all of the students.

 

They arrived late Sunday afternoon and were treated to a pizza party
provided by the family of a returning student. They rolled and baked
molasses cookies that evening. Monday morning and every other morning the
day’s activities began with Bell ringers, that is, reports by the kids of
the things they had done the day before that pushed the boundaries of their
experience as blind people; the song “Ring My Bell”; and “The Braille Rap
Song.” The new students came to love singing that song as much as the
returning students. We also had a read-aloud story every day after lunch,
and some of our students volunteered to read for us.

 

We provided a variety of activities during the day aimed at meeting the
needs of all students. These included Braille reading and writing, nonvisual
skills, blindness skills, group activities, and technology. Students would
work one-on-one or in small groups with the adult volunteers. One of the
favorite activities for many of our students was technology. They spent time
learning about how to use their iPhones and the apps on their iPhones.

 

It would be hard to cover all of the activities in this article, so we will
share a few highlights. The students went to the Whistle Company, where they
learned how whistles are made, and each student received a whistle. The
students made Mexican Mix Casserole for dinner one evening. The recipe will
be included in the recipe portion of this newsletter in case you want to try
it at home. They also made brownies to share with their families on Friday
afternoon. Evening activities included swimming, goal ball, walking to UDF
for ice cream, and a night of singing with music therapist Jean Gallagher.

 

Not surprisingly we found that many of the students were not used to
managing their getting-up and going-to-bed routines, so during the week they
necessarily learned to keep track of shoes, clothes, personal care items,
and other items in their rooms. They also learned to manage their time so
that they could have breakfast before the day began. This was also a
learning experience for adults since most of us had never worked with blind
students in a residential setting.

 

We met with the families on Friday to share camp experiences with them and
encourage them to continue working toward independence with their children
at home. One of our students, who has attended all four BELL programs,
announced that this was the best one ever. One student did not want to leave
Friday afternoon. Another learned to brush her teeth without assistance. We
saw many of them blossom in ways we didn’t expect.

 

We hope to continue the residential BELL Academy so that students from
across the state can participate. We also believe a lot of learning took
place outside of the organized program, and friendships were made when
students could talk and encourage each other. We want to thank all of our
volunteers and chapters who provided food, time, and talent to make this
BELL Academy a success. There are too many to name here. We are all part of
the village who are working together to raise the next generation of
competent and successful blind people one child at a time.

 

**********

2016 NFBO BELL Academy Evening Activities

by Sheri Albers

 

Editor’s note: As Marianne and Debbie explained in the previous article,
this year we conducted a residential BELL program. Instead of seven hours of
programming a day, we were responsible for filling twelve hours a day, and
that was a big difference. Sheri Albers took over from Eric Duffy as BELL
coordinator when he left town. So she was the person left with the program
hours to fill and staff. She did an amazing job of pulling off the
activities. Here is her brief report of our evenings:

 

Monday night it was “everybody in the pool.” The indoor Olympic-size pool,
along with noodles and kickboards, offered the perfect setting to break the
ice between kids and volunteers and allow us all to have fun together. My
daughter, Brooke Albers, was our lifeguard for the evening.

 

Tuesday was a night of goal ball instruction led by our own David Perry from
the Cincinnati chapter. David is a member of the United States Association
of Blind Athletes (USABA). He explained the rules; demonstrated the game;
and, with the help of the volunteers, rotated kids in so that they all got a
chance to give it a shot. Brandon Voterberg scored a goal and made that his
BELL Ringer for the next morning. The evening concluded with a healthy
full-court game with the volunteers. I am not sure who won, but my left knee
was not very happy with me the next day.

 

Wednesday night we all took a walk for an ice cream treat to the United
Dairy Farmer, located three blocks north of OSSB. Each kid was paired with a
volunteer for the walk. Upon arriving at UDF, the kids were given cash so
that they could place their own orders and pay for them. This helped promote
their communication skills. There was certainly no help needed for ice
cream-eating skills.

 

Thursday afternoon we went on a field trip to the American Whistle
Corporation in Columbus. They are the only metal whistle manufacturer in the
USA. They gave us a guided tour from start to finish of how their whistles
are made. The owner and employees gave detailed description at each stage of
production, as well as showing us actual parts to hold and pass around. We
were all fascinated by the experience and even got to take home a finished
product of our own as a souvenir.

 

Thursday night we had a relaxing evening with music and songs led by our own
Jeanne Gallagher, vice president of the Cuyahoga County chapter. She is a
trained music therapist and also a Braille reader, so she could play musical
games with Braille questions thrown in. All in all we had a great week of
evening activities, and the kids were ready for bed by the time we finished.

 

**********

Editor’s Musing

On September 1 Bob and I celebrated our first year of living at Kendal at
Oberlin, a residential community for seniors. We have a lovely,
air-conditioned cottage and one delicious meal a day in an up-scale dining
room. The trade-off is that we spend most of our time with senior citizens,
thinking about issues of interest to them. One of these is vision loss.

 

Recent statistics suggest that 6.8 percent of people over sixty-five are
losing vision. That is from the NFB website. The AFB says that 12.2 percent
of people between sixty-five and seventy-five report vision loss while 15.4
percent of those over seventy-five are losing sight.

 

Not surprisingly a number of people here are struggling with macular
degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. Also not surprisingly
people watch me very carefully. They are always worrying that I may trip
someone with my white cane. They also want to know how I do things, and they
worry about how I am going to get where I am going.

 

I am also president of the NFB of Ohio Seniors Division. I am sorry to say
that I have not done much with this job this year, but I have been thinking
about the NFB’s general responsibility to reach out to seniors losing
vision. This is or should be a concern for every chapter across the state.
All of us have competent people in our communities who are losing vision and
who could be helpful members of our chapters. Retirement centers are a good
place to search for these folks and recruit them to join us.

 

In August I spoke to the Vision Support Group at Kendal. This is a group of
people who meet monthly, mostly to learn about cutting-edge research in
their particular type of blindness. Once a year they have Magnification and
More come out to show them technology, and they are linked with an
international group addressing senior low-vision issues. I have not attended
a single meeting of this group this year because none of what they were
doing was of any interest to me. But the guy who runs the group asked me to
come in August and talk to the group, and it seems to have been a great
success. They had twice the number of people attend the meeting as the
previous record, and they were quite interested in what I had to say. My
title was “Exploring the World of the Other Four Senses.” I began by
suggesting that focusing intensely on what they could see had disadvantages.
Their vision was failing, so they necessarily got less and less satisfactory
visual information. I also told them that they were always getting
information from their other senses but that their brains could concentrate
only on a certain amount of data at once. If they were busy concentrating on
vision, they did not have brain power left over to assess the other, more
useful information coming in.

 

I went through what they could learn from touch, hearing, smelling, and the
kinesthetic sense of where their bodies were in the world. I covered what
one can learn through feet on the ground, what temperature changes or
sunshine or the breeze on a cheek can tell you, how to use the balance and
weight of what is on the fork to help you eat efficiently, and how the
weight and balance of papers can help you find things that are buried in a
pile of junk. We talked about marking things with rubber bands or safety
pins. I told them about listening for walls, doorways, bushes, and wide open
spaces. I answered lots of questions and talked them through how I find my
luggage on a carrousel at the airport. I also put in a word for accessible
voting machines. They asked good questions and begged me to come back again
next summer, when I suspect they will have forgotten everything I talked
about, so I can easily do it all again.

 

I have bothered to describe all of this because I hope to inspire some of
you to go and do likewise at retirement facilities near you. One could have
done a lot more of course. This is a great opportunity for mentioning the
NFB’s vehicle donation program. One could urge them to come to chapter
meetings or events or join even if they don’t want to come to meetings.

 

I also want to urge members who are seniors to join the Seniors Division by
coming to our meeting at convention Saturday at lunch. Susan Day will be
talking with us about how to stay safe in our homes. We will also be
planning activities for the coming year. It would be great to hear that some
new folks have made arrangements to talk with seniors in their communities.
Seniors too can live the lives they want; blindness is not what holds them
back.

 

If you or a friend would like to remember the National Federation of the
Blind of Ohio in your will, you can do so by employing the following
language:

 

“I give, devise, and bequeath unto the Ohio Council of the Blind dba
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, 6922 Murray Ridge Rd., Elyria,
Ohio 44035, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, the sum of $____ (or “____
percent of my net estate” or “The following stocks and bonds: _____) to be
used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons.”

 

**********

My First NFB National Convention

by Heather Leiterman

 

Editor’s note: Heather Leiterman was a first-time convention attendee this
past summer. I think it is good for all of us to hear what is of interest to
these people and what their impressions are. This is what she has to say:

 

As a first-time national convention attendee, I was not sure what to expect.
I was nervous, excited, and a little scared. After registration my family
walked around the convention center to get the lay of the hotel and meet
some of our fellow Federationists. Everyone told me that, since it was my
first convention, I had to attend the Rookie Roundup. So, with my husband
Michael by my side, I walked into my first Federation event, Rookie Roundup.
I can't tell you how it felt to sit in a room with many other people who
feel the same way I do: things for the blind need to change; only we as
blind people can make that change happen. Over the next few days I attended
general session and heard Mark Riccobono, president of the National
Federation of the Blind, give his presidential address. Hearing all the
things that the NFB has done during the past year was truly impressive. I
also attended the mock trial, and that was most definitely worth the price
of admission.

 

I attended some events of the National Organization of Parents of Blind
Children, where I met many other parents of blind children. It was nice to
network with other parents who are dealing with some of the same issues I
am. It was also nice to talk to and give advice where I could to other
parents of blind children.

 

As a family we attended the discussion session for LGBTQ Federationists. My
son Alex Is transgender. It was incredibly moving to hear the stories of
fellow Federation members in the LGBTQ community.

 

On Saturday I spent the afternoon in the exhibit hall at the table for the
Ohio affiliate. I had a blast! I was able to interact with many other
Federation members and meet many people from the Ohio affiliate I hadn't met
before.

 

At the banquet we were pleased to hear that one of our friends we met
through the Virginia affiliate was one of the national scholarship winners.
It was a wonderful evening spent with my family and my new Federation
friends.

 

I was pleasantly surprised that I had such a good time at my first national
convention. It gave me much to think about and motivation for the year to
come. I'm looking forward to attending next year’s convention.

 

**********

A Good Read

Editor’s note: Cheryl Fields suggested this column ahead of those cold days
of winter. Try one or more of these books loved by some members of your
Federation family.

 

Here are some of Cheryl Fields’s favorite books:

 

Kindred DB16072, by Octavia E. Butler, reading time: 9 hours, 40 minutes,
read by Patricia Beaudry, historical fiction

Octavia Butler was the only African American science fiction writer for many
years. Her books have intrigued me follow.

 

Killer Smile DB58316, by Lisa Scottoline, reading time: 12 hours, 42
minutes, read by Kimberly Schraf, mystery and detective stories, legal
fiction

This is one of a series about the women of Risotto and Associates of
Philadelphia and my personal favorite. Lisa Scottoline enlightens readers
through this masterfully written story.

 

Spartan Gold DB69719, by Clive Cussler and Grant Blackwood, reading time: 11
hours, 37 minutes, read by Ray Foushee, adventure

This series is delightful. Clive Cussler’s books are absolutely fun-filled.
This series features multi-millionaire couple San and Remi Fargo, but don’t
be surprised to find characters from the Neuma Files making cameo
appearances.

 

Sula DB54438, by Toni Morrison, reading time: 5 hours, 20 minutes, read by
Gail Nelson, human relations

Many, many years ago, when I first read this book, I cried. The writing is
absolutely beautiful, and I fell in love with Toni Morrison, a hometown girl
from Lorain, Ohio.

 

Paths of Glory DB68935, by Jeffrey Archer, reading time: 11 hours, 3
minutes, read by Fred Major, historical fiction, sports fiction

For this one a warm blanket and a cold drink will sustain as you climb Mt.
Everest with George Mallory. Just remember to breathe while ascending.

 

The Hobbit: or, There and Back Again DB11497, by J. R. R. Tolkien, reading
time: 10 hours, 5 minutes, read by Bob Askey, fantasy fiction

What can I say? This is a perfect read during a winter blizzard. A cup of
hot tea and a slice of rum cake, and Bilbo Baggins and I are off on the
first of many adventures.

 

Nine Parts of Desire: the Hidden World of Islamic Women DB41227, by
Geraldine Brooks, reading time: 10 hours, 18 minutes, read by Carole Jordan
Stewart, religion, women

Try this nonfiction read and learn about a different culture, excellent.

 

The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America's Great Migration
DB71929, by Isabell Wilkerson, reading time: 19 hours, 57 minutes, read by
Erin Jones, U.S. history

This book provides a vivid picture of how and why many southerners migrated
to the North. I met this author at a lecture she gave at Tri C--fascinating.

 

This recommendation comes from Paul and Bernie Dressell, who read almost all
their books together:

 

Backstairs at the White House DB13414, by Gwen Bagni and Lillian Rogers Park

This book describes the lives of maids and butlers who worked at the White
House from the Taft administration through the Eisenhower administration.

 

Annette Anderson suggests the following two books:

 

Our Souls at Night: a Novel DB81799, by Kent Haruf, reading time: 3 hours,
30 minutes, read by Mark Bramhall, human relations

Seventy-year-old widow Addie Moore asks her neighbor Louis Waters to spend
the nights with her in her bed to help with the loneliness they both feel.
As the two talk in the night, they become close, but they become the subject
of gossip in their small town. Commercial audiobook. 2015.

 

The Light between Oceans, a Novel DB75192, by M. L. Stedman, reading time:
11 hours, 51 minutes, read by Colleen Delany, historical fiction, Family,
bestsellers

Western Australia, 1926. On an island one hundred miles from the mainland,
lighthouse keepers Isabel and Tom Sherbourne discover a boat carrying a dead
man and a crying baby. The decisions they make that day come back to haunt
them several years later.

 

Sherry Ruth is a prolific reader. Here are some of her favorite books:

 

Against the Wind DB74445, by Kat Martin

This is the first book in an eleven-book series of suspense romance fiction.
All the titles begin with “Against the,” and each book tells you which one
is next at the end in notes from the author.

 

The Darkest Hour DB73650, by Maya Banks

This is the first book in an eleven-book series of suspense romance fiction
that revolves around the Kelly brothers, who run a security company. You
must go by the DB numbers to know which one to read next.

 

Whiskey Creek DB78628, by Brenda Novak

This is the first three books in a nine-book series, which takes place in a
small town in northern California. It is a suspense romance centering on a
group of friends who have grown up together and the relationships and
intrigue that follow them.

 

Also by Brenda Novak is Secret Sister DBC02778

This is a not-to-be-missed book with lots of surprises.

 

**********

Let's Dance: How I Dealt with Choreography

by Kelsey Nicolay

 

Editor’s note: Most of us know Kelsey from the Ohio listserv. She lives in
Medina, so she has no chapter near her. Here is a chance to get to know her
a bit better:

 

I have been singing in choir since the fourth grade without much difficulty.
However, one day in my freshman chorus the director gave us the music we
would be performing at the end-of-year show with choreography. I was really
nervous about how it would go. How would I remember the moves? How would I
move around without my cane? What about getting on and off stage? My choir
director assured me that I would dance and participate like everyone else
and that they would find ways to make it happen. We ended up having someone
come in to help me. The choir director chose someone who was in show choir
and had more dance experience. It worked out really well once the choir
director found someone. The person the director found seemed to know
instinctively that I was capable of doing the moves on my own once I learned
them and made sure that, as soon as she felt I was ready, she insisted that
I do as much as I could without her holding onto my arms. After about a
week, she said, "I'm not going to help you too much today because I want you
to be able to do it on your own during performance." I didn’t do the moves
perfectly the first few times I did them alone, but I knew that with
repetition I would learn them, and I did. By two weeks before performance, I
could do almost all of it alone, and she could simply watch from a distance
and correct me if necessary. Performance weekend went pretty well.

 

While the first show time was mostly successful, I had a few setbacks. For
instance, like most students, I chose to take part in my grade's student-led
ensemble. We auditioned for the show and were one of the groups selected.
When it came time to learn our choreography, the choreographer made a
comment that he tried doing the ensemble's dance steps with his eyes closed,
and he couldn't do it, so he concluded that I couldn’t either. I felt
devastated because I had been working hard in choir and then he told me I
couldn't perform the student ensemble choreography. The choir director
decided to let me perform anyway and just sing the number with the ensemble.
I was grateful he let me do that, but at the same time I felt robbed of an
opportunity to prove myself. From this experience I learned that it is
important to stay positive and keep working at your dream and trying to
change minds even if others don't believe you will succeed.

 

My sophomore and junior years, however, the performances were not as
successful. Again the choir director found someone to work with me. However,
this person did not have the same expectations that the former student had
had. Instead of encouraging me to do the moves on my own, she stood behind
me and moved my arms. It took a lot longer for me to learn the choreography,
and on stage during performance she had to help me with most of it. The
choir director allowed her to be on stage with me, but he overlooked the
fact that she was practically doing it for me. My teacher of the visually
impaired, family, and friends all commented that there was no reason for her
to be on stage helping me. My TVI helped me with costume changes for one
show so that my family could watch the performance. After both my numbers
she told me that I could have done most of that myself. The same thing
happened both years. My junior year I participated in the student ensemble
again. It was comprised of the people I had been in the freshman group with,
but they were all in higher choirs than I was. They were familiar with my
blindness, and it didn't seem like a big deal to them until it was time to
learn the choreography. The group leader chose to make up the choreography
herself instead of having our choreographer do it. When it came time for
dance rehearsal, no one bothered to teach me until the week of performance.
My choir director told me one person was teaching me, my assistant told me
something different, and another student in my choir said she was teaching
me. I finally decided to call one of the members whom I knew from freshman
chorus and who had helped me in that group as well. Luckily she agreed to
teach me the next day. However, because it was so close to performance, I
ended up dropping the group at the last minute because I could not learn the
arm movements in time.

 

My senior year I was determined to make this the best performance since it
was my last one. I told my director that I wanted an assistant to help me
learn the choreography but that I did not want him on stage with me. The
director had a hard time finding someone who was free during the first
period of the day, but she eventually found someone, and, once she did, it
worked out fine. This person seemed to know instinctively that I could do
the moves by myself. Once I felt confident, I did everything by myself. He
was right there, but he never helped me when I didn't need it. It also
helped that my sister was in the same choir as me, so she sometimes worked
with me at home to correct my mistakes. I also participated in senior
ensemble since it was my last performance. That started off shaky, but, once
I was taught the dance, I was ok. One of the girls in my choir was also in
the group, so she started teaching me. However, this person seemed to have
the expectation that I needed constant help and therefore stood behind me
and moved my arms. Therefore, two students whom I knew from middle school
told me that they had decided to teach me instead. I met with them one on
one, and we went through it. I learned the routine in about an hour, and by
the end of our time I was doing pretty much all of it with very little
assistance. The performance went really well, and my family told me that I
fit right in, which is what I wanted.

 

Based on these experiences, I have several suggestions for students dealing
with a similar situation. The most important piece of advice is to be
confident. It may be difficult at times, but try to stay positive through
performance. Second, self-advocacy is critical. If you feel you are not
getting the help you need, speak up. Try to talk to the person helping you
and let him or her know that you want to do the moves on your own. It may be
uncomfortable to bring this up with the student, but as long as you do it
tactfully, there should be no problem. You can also ask your orientation and
mobility instructor or TVI for help. She may be able to help if there is a
particular dance move you are struggling with. Either way, speak up if
things aren't going the way they should. Finally, show appreciation. For
example, giving the people who helped you learn the choreography a gift card
to their favorite restaurant or just some flowers goes a long way. People
will be more likely to help you in future ensembles if they know their work
is appreciated.

 

**********

Recipe Corner

Three cheers for Cheryl Fields, who spontaneously offered us the following
delicious recipe:

 

Simple and Easy Rum Cake

With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, I began to think about food and
lots of it. There are family gatherings, friends sharing meals, and of
course NFB chapter celebrations that may require you to bring a dish or even
a gift. Don’t automatically sign up for the soda pop or plastic ware and
napkins. Bring something that will be an instant hit; make this simple and
easy rum cake. My cousin, best friend, and I have made this cake for over
twenty-five years for the holidays and sometimes between them. This is an
easy and flexible recipe that we have had lots of fun experimenting with,
trying different flavors to give this cake more zing. No matter how you make
it, everyone will devour it. Give this delicious family favorite rum cake a
try.

 

Ingredients:

 

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

 

1 box yellow cake mix--brand name cake mix performs the best. (Try spice or
chocolate for a change, very good and tasty.)

 

1/2 cup rum (Experiment with different flavors of rum; choose your
favorite.)

 

4 large eggs

 

1/ 2 cup water

 

1/2 cup vegetable oil (Do not substitute other oils. It will affect the
taste of cake.)

 

1 3.5 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix, brand name mixes perform
best (When using other flavors of cake mix, try lemon or chocolate pudding
mix.)

 

Glaze Ingredients:

 

1/2 cup butter, no substitutions

 

1/8 cup water

 

1/2 cup white sugar

 

1/4 cup rum--again choose your favorite flavor

 

Method: Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. In electric mixer mix cake mix,
instant pudding mix, water, eggs, and vegetable oil and blend until smooth.
Add rum last. Spray Bundt pan lightly with vegetable oil. Add nuts to bottom
of pan. Gently pour batter into pan. Scrape sides of bowl. Bake cake for an
hour or till toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center of cake.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly before inverting on cooling rack.
Arrange on cake plate and prick top and sides using a tooth pick. Make
glaze. Melt butter in sauce pan. Add water and sugar and bring to boil for
five minutes, constantly stirring. Remove from heat and stir in 1/ 4 cup
rum. Drizzle glaze over top and sides of cake. To eat, make yourself a good,
hot cup of tea or coffee. Slice cake and enjoy.

 

Ugly Apple Cake

by Shelbi Hindel

 

Judge this cake by its taste, not its appearance.

 

Ingredients:

 

3 cups flour

 

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 

1 teaspoon baking soda

 

1 teaspoon salt

 

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

 

1/4 cup vegetable oil

 

2 cups sugar

 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

3 large eggs

 

1 1/2 pounds tart apples, peeled, cored, and diced (approximately 3 large
apples like Granny Smith)

 

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a ten-inch tube pan. Set
aside. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, soda, and salt. Set
aside. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream butter, oil,
sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating
well after each. Work the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. It is
best to do this in three additions. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into the
prepared tube pan. Bake in preheated oven for approximately one hour and ten
minutes. When the cake is done, a tester inserted in the cake’s highest
point should come out clean and the cake should be golden brown. Allow the
baked cake to cool in the pan for fifteen minutes. Transfer to a plate. Turn
right side up. Cool completely and then glaze if desired. You can also dust
with confectioners’ sugar.

 

Nacho Pie

by Shelbi Hindel

 

Ingredients:

 

4 cups nacho cheese tortilla chips, coarsely crushed

 

1 pound ground beef

 

1/2 cup chopped onion

 

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

 

Salt and pepper to taste

 

1 15 ½-ounce can chili beans

 

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

 

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Mozzarella cheese

 

Method: Place chips in a lightly greased 9-inch pie plate and set aside. In
a skillet over medium heat cook beef, onion, and pepper until meat is no
longer pink; drain. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon over chips. Top with
beans, tomato sauce, and cheese. Bake uncovered, at 375 degrees for fifteen
to seventeen minutes, or until heated through. Serve with fresh lettuce,
diced tomatoes, sour cream, and extra crumbled chips. Makes four to six
servings.

 

Mexican Mix Casserole

The kids at BELL Academy made this recipe for dinner and discovered that
they loved it.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 15 ounce can chili (Use a heavy hand with this or substitute your own
chili.)

 

1 to 2 cups crushed corn or nacho chips (7.5 oz. bag)

 

1 12- or 17-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

 

1 8-ounce package grated cheese or grate one cup brick cheddar cheese

 

Method: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Empty chili into greased medium
casserole bowl. Add drained corn to chili. Add grated cheese to the
casserole. There is no need to mix casserole. Crumble chips in your hands
over the casserole and press them down gently, part way into the mixture.
Bake in the oven for twenty minutes. You can serve the casserole with extra
whole chips if you wish.

 

**********

Buckeye Briefs

Here is a summary of what is going on in the Cleveland Chapter:

The Cleveland chapter is happy to report that our Amish Country trip was
successful. Another trip is in the works for 2017. Look for more details
next year. Suzanne Turner hosted an event at her place of employment,
Medical Mutual, “Lunch and Learn.” It was an overwhelming success. Kudos to
NFB-O President Richard Payne, Carol Akers, and her son Dustin, who
represented the Federation at this event. The Cleveland and Cuyahoga
chapters paid it forward at Chik-Fil-A for a brief meeting and dinner. Thank
you, Chik-Fil-A for supporting the hospitality room at the 2015 NFB-O state
convention and for agreeing to support us again this year. Hats Off to
Milena Zavoli of the Cuyahoga chapter for developing this partnership. On
Friday, October 7, we will celebrate Meet the Blind Month at Public Square.
There will be lots of literature, and we will be on the square to inform the
community about what it means to be a Federationist. Once again we are proud
to announce that Owen McCafferty’s art work will be among the holiday card
selection at Cleveland Sight Center with one of our newer members, Regina
Dorfmeyer. Cards will be on sale at the Cleveland Sight Center. Call
216.791.8118 or visit clevelandsightcenter.org to place your orders. Last
year Owen’s signature art was very well received. You can also look for more
of Owen’s incredible art at the NFB-O state convention in. November.

 

The following people in the chapter are recovering: Richard and Mary Kirks,
Octavia Culbert, Paula King, and Charlene Bolden. It is a pleasure to have
Billy Graham back in the swing of Federation business.

 

Debbie Baker reports with sadness the deaths of Springfield chapter members
Eleanore and Ernie Brown. The Browns donated $1,000 toward the Ohio
scholarship program in 2014. Ernie died on February 15, 2016, and Eleanore
died on August 13, 2016.

 

Kyle Conley has accepted a position teaching fifth-twelfth grade orchestra
and seventh-twelfth grade choir and high school piano. Two years of
struggles have finally paid off. He will be leaving the state and moving to
Williamstown, West Virginia, which is across the river from Marietta. He
started on August 29. His plan is to come back to Ohio, but who knows.

NFB Scrip Ohio Reminder: The Scrip program is a fundraiser for the affiliate
that costs participants only pennies. “Scrip” is another word for money, so
this program gives us an opportunity to replace our cash with a gift card
for places like gas stations, department stores, restaurants, drug stores,
auto repair shops, auto parts stores, hotels, airlines, some supermarkets,
Sam’s Clubs, hair salons, QVC, movie theaters, and many more. Our state
affiliate makes money from every card purchased. We receive a different
rebate amount from each business. The rebate amounts range from 1.74 percent
to 18 percent, and, when there are promotions, the rebate amounts are more.
The person buying the card pays the face value and $.15 for the total order
as a transaction fee. The cards are delivered to Shelbi Hindel, sorted, and
mailed to the proper person. The affiliate is charged approximately $8.50
Fedex fee for the shipment, so there is an expense for each order. However,
the orders usually net more in rebates. You can choose from two mailing
options. The first is standard mail, for which the affiliate covers the
cost. The second is certified mail, for which you must prepay $5.00. This
requires a signature upon receipt of the package.

The more people that participate, the more money our affiliate makes. It is
a wonderful ongoing fundraiser. The Capital Chapter has signed up for its
own account so the members can order gift cards as door prizes or to use for
chapter activities.

 

Some examples of a few gift cards and their rebate amounts are Ace Hardware
3.74%, Advance Auto Parts 6.74%, American Airline, 7.74%,. Applebee’s 7.74%,
Arby’s 7.74%, Lane Bryant 5.74%, Avis Car Rental 7.74%, Barnes and Noble
8.74%, Bath & Body Works 12.74%, Best Buy 2.74%, Bob Evans 9.74%, BP Gas
1.24%, Burger King 7.74%, Comfort Inn 3.74%, Country Buffet 3.74%, Cracker
Barrel 8.74%, CVS 5.74%, Denny's 6.74%, Family Video 11.74%, Starbucks
6.74%, and Walgreens 5.74%. This list is just a sampling of the retailers
who participate in the program.

 

To sign up for this fundraising program, go to www.shopwithscrip.com. To
register a new account, go to the green smiley sign-up box on the left side
of the page and click Create Account. Follow the registration instructions
to fill in required information and accept the terms and conditions of using
the site. Choose two challenge questions from the list and provide answers.
These answers will be required if you forget your user name or password.
These are case sensitive. You must enter the organization’s enrollment code
to associate your account with NFB Ohio. To get the enrollment code, you
must contact Shelbi by email, shelbiah1 at gmail.com. We do not advertise our
code for security protection. There will be an option for Presto Pay on the
page. If you want this service, which is very convenient, it will ask you if
you want to sign up for this. Enter your account information. Two small
amounts of money will be deposited in to the account. Verify the two small
deposit amounts that show up on your bank account statement. Now you will be
given an approval code via email. You need to get that approval code to
Shelbi. She will enter the code in to the coordinator portion of the
website. This will activate your personal account. Now you are ready to shop
and spend your money while feeling good because you are benefiting the
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio.

 

To place an order, go to www.shopwithscrip.com. Once you have signed in to
the website, you can browse, which enables you to look through the whole
list of retailers, shop by category to find what you want, or search by
name. You can add retailers to your shopping list so you can easily access
specific items that you want to purchase frequently instead of going through
the complete list each time.

 

Some of the companies have reload as an option on plastic cards. These
plastic cards can be reloaded directly from the website. You need to have
the card numbers to do this. When you look at a specific retailer on the
website, it will give you the options that are available.

 

“ScripNow” is the name for the eCards that you can print directly within
moments. These can be used at businesses or for online shopping. Again, when
you look at the specific business on the website, the available options will
be given.

 

Remember that, when you purchase gift cards from this fundraiser, you will
be earning money for the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio while
spending very little additional money to that which you were planning to
spend. Happy shopping.

 

The NFB of Lorain County will conduct its annual Meet the Blind Month
hike-a-thon on October 1 this year. As nearly as we can recall, this will be
our thirty-sixth walk.

As you know, plans for the 2016 NFB Ohio 70th Anniversary Convention are
underway. This year’s theme, “Marching for Independence,” will inspire,
empower, and celebrate our accomplishments. Our goal is this: everyone will
walk away from the 2016 convention with a deeper knowledge of NFB
philosophy, ready to advocate for change, ready to enhance the way we live
and work, and excited to be a member of the National Federation of the Blind
of Ohio.

You may be wondering how you can help. Sign up to be an NFBO convention
marshal. Why do we need convention marshals? Navigating an unfamiliar place
can be frustrating. We want conventioneers to have the best experience
possible. Who would be a perfect marshal? You. The important role of
convention marshal provides the opportunity to show your great hospitality
skills and your strong vocal ability. What are the duties of a marshal?
Marshals will be stationed at various strategic points and will use their
voices to help convention attendees locate meeting rooms. Marshals may also
be asked to give oral directions to other nearby areas, such as exhibit
hall, rest rooms, hospitality, dog relief areas, and exits.

 

Will marshals miss meetings? No, marshals will work only before and after
meetings, not while the meetings are in session. What time and which days?
Your choice--check your schedule and sign up for a time that is convenient
for you. Read on to select the days and times that work best for you.

 

Friday--5:30 pm-9:00 pm

 

Saturday--noon-6:00 pm

 

Sunday--9:00 am-until start of general session

 

This sounds fantastic. Where do I sign up? Contact Cheryl Fields at email
cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com. Send your available days with times. If you are
not available, be proactive. Share this information with another chapter or
division member who is looking for a volunteer experience. Presidents, do
you have first-timers? Share this information and let them explore the
possibility of getting more involved. The 2016 NFBO convention marshal
volunteer schedule will be posted in advance of the convention. Thank you in
advance for your participation and cooperation. For additional information,
contact Cheryl Fields at 216-566-4317 or email cherylelaine1957 at gmail.com.

 

Karen Noles, a member of the Miami Valley chapter and a longtime member of
the parents division, died after a battle with liver cancer on July 24. She
will be deeply missed.

Here are some notes from BSVI:

Did you know that the American Printing House for the Blind has over 250
videos covering a variety of topics, like quick tips, product
demonstrations, and historical videos? While you are there, don’t forget to
subscribe to the APH YouTube channel so that you can receive updates on new
content.

 

The National Council on Disability has issued an advisory brochure on best
practices for making prescription drug container labels accessible to people
with vision impairments. Based on recommendations from a U.S. Access Board
stakeholder panel, the brochure outlines methods pharmacists can use to
provide access to drug labeling. These include Braille and large print, as
well as newer technologies such as digital voice or text-to-speech
recorders, radio frequency identification tags, and smart devices and
computers. The brochure also provides best practices to follow, such as
maintaining patient privacy and selecting containers that best support the
accessible label. Details here: http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?

 

Want to know how accessible some iPhone apps are? Check out www.applevis.com

 

Over 50,000 free eBooks are now available using Capti Narrator through a
partnership with Project Gutenberg
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/05/prweb13391110.htm. Users can listen at
any pace, any time, switch between devices, and continue from where they
left off. Capti is being adopted worldwide as a resource for language
learning, providing alternative formats for students with reading
difficulties. Details here: https://www.captivoice.com/capti-site

 

Recently the Internet has been buzzing because of an RP Foundation Fighting
Blindness social media program to raise funds by making sighted people feel
frightened and guilty enough that they will contribute to the organization’s
efforts to combat blindness. This is a laudable goal, no doubt, but the NFB
is asking if it is worth the damage that it does to us.

The Foundation asks sighted people to blindfold themselves and then make a
video of them trying to do everyday things. They of course make fools of
themselves and feel really stupid to boot. Mark Riccobono has asked
Federationists to make videos of ourselves doing some of those same things
and doing them easily and effectively. He suggests that we identify
ourselves as members of the National Federation of the Blind and maybe even
request contributions to the NFB. He asks us to send them to social media
with the hashtag “as I see it” and be sure to tag three friends and send
them to the national office.

 

Shelbi spotted a teachable moment, so she printed out the email to show to
her daughter Aliyah Johnson. Aliyah showed the message to her social studies
teacher and explained why she thought the Foundation’s media effort was
destructive. (By the way, Shelbi is going to the school next week to talk
about blindness and how we do things.) Then Aliyah came home and wrote a
response on her Facebook page. Here that message is:

 

Anti How Eye See It

 

DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE HASHTAG “HOW I SEE IT”!

 

Dear people who are ignorant about blindness,

 

Putting on a blindfold and doing a random task to prove how "awful/
difficult" it is to be blind is not an accurate representation of what it is
to be blind. So here are my issues with this hashtag. For a sighted person
sight is a sense that you depend on heavily to do everyday tasks. For a
blind person such as my mom adaptations are made so that things can be
accomplished without sight. So here are the top adaptations that are not
prevalent in these videos:

 

1. Talking computers/ phones. Putting a blindfold on and randomly trying to
type a message is not the same as using a speech program.

 

2. Identifying money. Personally my mom uses a way of folding bills so that
she can tell what they are. For coins she can also tell by size, and, to
tell dimes and pennies apart, she feels for the ribbed edge on dimes. Also
bill readers are available free of charge.

 

3. Eating. I'm not sure whether this is an adaptation or just an acquired
skill, but blind people for the most part are perfectly capable of bringing
a fork to their mouths.

 

4. Clothing. This one is a bit more difficult because for some blind people
colors are an abstract concept. However, the majority of blind people don't
just randomly choose an outfit out of their closet. People either use a
color identifier or have a sighted friend/ family member help them learn
what goes together, and then they remember the combinations and identify
their clothes by touch.

 

5. Cooking. A lot of people say this, but I promise that my mom is one of
the world’s best cooks. We have an oven that has tactilely marked dials so
that she can tell the temperature. And she uses online or Braille recipes.

 

6. Walking. The majority of blind people use either a cane or guide dog.
Being a sighted person walking somewhere with your eyes covered is not the
same. When a blind person is traveling, it's almost as if your cane or guide
dog is your set of eyes.

 

7. This is probably the dumbest one I have seen. If you're blind (well
unless you're only legally blind), you cannot read print. I kid you not; I
saw a video in which a girl put on a blindfold and say that she couldn't
read. For reading there are Braille books and screen-reading programs.

 

Sorry this is a long post; it's just a personal matter, and I truly hate
this hashtag because it is portraying blind people as incapable. It is
oppressive and discriminatory.

 

Aliyah R. Johnson

 

Shelbi has good reason to be proud of this young woman.

 

**********

Activities Calendar

October 1-31, Meet the Blind Month

 

October 9, Deadline for submitting Gavel Award reports and award nominations

 

October 15, White Cane Safety Day

 

October 21, convention room block released

 

November 4, Deadline for submitting chapter and division dues, membership
lists, and annual reports

 

November 11 to 13, Annual convention, NFB of Ohio, Independence, Ohio

 

December 1, deadline for expressing interest in Washington Seminar

 

January 4-11, Braille Literacy Week

 

Jan. 4-Feb 28, Ohio Braille Reading Contest

 

Jan. 30-Feb. 3, Washington Seminar, Capitol Holliday Inn, Washington, D.C.

 

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio - 2016 Convention

DoubleTree Independence

6200 Quarry Lane, Independence, Ohio 44131 - (216) 447-1300

November 11-13, 2016

 

Pre-Registration Form and Payment Instructions

We are accepting pre-registration for the 2016 NFBO Convention through Nov.
1. Follow the instructions as indicated below to register for our 70th
anniversary convention and purchase your banquet ticket. Convention
attendees may also purchase a boxed lunch and join one of the scheduled
meetings by selecting from the options listed below. You can also register
online and pay by credit card by using the link
http://nfbohio.org/new/registration.

 

Convention Attendee Information

 

Name (for name tag)

 

Address:

 

City/State/Zip

 

Home Phone

 

Cell 

 

Work Phone

 

Email

 

Is this your first NFBO convention? (Yes/No)

 

Prefer Braille program? (Yes/No)

 

Registration ($15 each, $20 if after Nov 1)

Number

 

$

 

Banquet: $35, $40 After Nov. 1 (indicate meal preference for each ticket)

# Meat

 

# Vegetarian

 

Total $

 

Breakfast Ohio Association to Promote the Use of Braille ($18)

Number

 

$

 

Boxed Lunch - Sat. Nov 12 – select one of the 3 options listed below and
your meal preference

Ohio Organization of Blind Seniors Meeting, $18 each

Number

 

$

 

Ohio Association of Guide Dog Users Meeting, $18 each

Number

 

$

 

Other – To-Go Lunch, $18, each

Number

 

$

 

Please indicate your boxed lunch meal preference.

Italian

Sub

 

Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap

 

Vegetarian Wrap 

 

I wish to make an additional donation (always appreciated)

 

Total check enclosed

 

Convention registration and meal orders are not valid unless payment is
received. Email the completed form to rchpay7 at gmail.com and mail a check
made payable to NFB of Ohio, to 6922 Murray Ridge Rd, Elyria, OH 44035. Be
sure to place “Convention Registration” on the memo line.

 

 

 

 

Barbara Pierce 

President Emerita

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

Barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com

440-774-8077

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.

 

> On Sep 24, 2016, at 11:15 AM, roanna bacchus via NFB-Editors
<nfb-editors at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> 

> My name is Roanna Bacchus.  I enjoy reading the Nfb publications.  I
joined this list to share ideas for new Nfb publications.

> 

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