[Nebraska-Senior-Blind] November Meeting Secretary's Report, Pasted and Attached

[Linda Mentink]

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF NEBRASKA SENIOR DIVISION SECRETARY's REPORT



Monday, November 11, 2019



The NFBN Senior Division met by telephone conference Monday, November 
11, 2019. President Robert Newman called the meeting to order at 7:02 
PM CST. Members present were: President Robert Newman, Vice President 
Barbara Loos, Secretary Linda Mentink, Treasurer Cheryl Livingston, 
Board Member Nancy Oltman, Chris Boone, Gina Finnell, Brad Loos, 
Steve Senteney, and Jerry Whitlow. Guests present were: Jo Boshardt 
from Nebraska, Bob Gardner from Illinois, and Beth Jeffreyf Dallas. 
Cheryl recited the NFB Pledge. Barbara will recite it next month.



Beth Jeffrey, with the company Wayaround, was our guest speaker. 
Wayaround is a free app that works with Android or iPhones using near 
field communication technology. It does not require the use of a 
camera, and it's not difficult to do. It allows your phone to 
communicate with Waytags which are about the size of a postage stamp. 
Information is not stored on the tags, but in the cloud. The 
information can be accessed by whatever setting you have on your 
phone. It was developed by two visually impaired architects. They 
started out with home and office products for labeling items in your 
pantry, clothes so you know what color they are and how to wash and 
dry them, CD's, or anything that needs to be labeled. These are 
private tags, meaning that only you can access the information with 
your phone. They have just recently launched public tags, which allow 
businesses, museums, universities, etc. to create tags which can be 
accessed by the public. Any information can be used on either tag. 
You can store a lot of information on each tag, and access it in 
chunks, depending on what you want to know. The information can be 
changed and edited. They recommend that the public tags be about 48 
inches from the ground so that wheelchair users can access them. You 
have to be touching the tag with the tag reader, which is on the top 
of the iPhone, and in different places on Android devices. You will 
get a vibration and a tone when you have found the tag. The private 
tags come in two-hole buttons, magnets, clips, oval-hole buttons, and 
round and square stickers. The round stickers cannot be used on 
metal. Public tags are the same, but they usually use the on metal 
tags because of door frames having metal in them. You can get a 
starter pack which gives you an assortment so that you can try them 
out. The stickers should not be removed because the antenna could be 
damaged. You write and rewrite using the app. Each tag will hold 
about two pages of print. When you create a tag, they call it a 
detail type, so the very first thing that comes up is a description. 
Then there's a detail type, and when you click on that it's a picker 
type. You can pick clothing care, and when you click on that, there 
will be other options like sorting, washing instructions, drying 
instructions, etc. There are many detail types, so you can be as 
specific as you want to be. The home and office products tags average 
about a dollar each. Brad and Barbara use some on food, but Barbara 
mostly uses them on teashirts so that she knows what is on them or 
what color they are. Wayaround is working on reaching out to places 
which serve visually impaired people, and a web base where you can 
get on your computer and update your tags. They have gotten positive 
feedback from owners of museums, zoos, and other cultural venues, who 
are wanting their places to be more accessible. Beth answered more 
questions we had, and asked us where we would like to see public 
tags. We suggested medical complexes, appointment cards, wilderness 
parks, and prescriptions. They are working on some of these already. 
Beth gave her contact information as follows: Beth Jeffrey, 
Wayaround, Cell (972) 571-9359. The website is www.wayaround.com. 
Barbara thanked everyone for asking questions.



Linda read the October Secretary's Report. It will be made a part of 
the record of the organization.



Cheryl read the Treasurer's Report as follows:



Treasurer's Report Senior Division



Monday, November 11, 2019



Beginning Balance 1204.33



Expenses



PAC for November 15.00



Deposits



None



Ending Balance 1189.33



Respectfully submitted,



Cheryl Livingston, Treasurer



It will be made a part of the financial record of the organization.



Robert asked what kind of speaker or topic we would like for next 
month. He has a list of topics from other Senior Divisions, which he 
will send to our Nebraska listserv.



The videos have not been done yet because Bonnie hasn't been able to 
drive. She is driving now, so Robert will see if they can get them 
done after Thanksgiving. Bonnie is still struggling with flexibility 
and movement, but is improving.



Gina suggested that next month we share a special Christmas recipe. 
Chris suggested a Christmas tradition. We will share traditions, 
recipes or memories.



Nancy reported that she is keeping in contact with Edie, who is 
overwhelmed right now.



BRAGS AND DRAGS. Nancy had a chance to go with Kimberly to the public 
library last Thursday night, where Kimberly read PEDRO THE OCTOPUS. 
She also mentioned that Kimberly Sherbarth and Chris Boone have 
applied for the two open positions on the Commission Board, and 
suggested that we call the Governor's office and tell them those are 
really two good people to be on the Commission Board. Nancy will send 
the necessary information to our listserv.



Brad explained the procedure he went through to get rid of some 
kidney stones. They put him to sleep and used ultrasound to break 
them up, which they call a lithotripsy. They only did the right 
kidney; he may have the left one done in January. He is doing well. 
Since our meeting was on Veterans Day, we thanked him for His service.



Linda's uncle passed away on the third. A friend drove her to the 
funeral. It was good to see her cousins and their families again, and 
to get a phone number she didn't have.



Chris got a call from a friend who used to work for her in Michigan. 
He was putting on a conference in Missouri called the Children's 
Vision Summit, education and rehabilitation for transition-aged 
kiddos. She got to present down there. There also was another friend 
there from Kalamazoo.



There was no further business, so we wished each other a happy 
Thanksgiving and adjourned at 8:40 PM.



Respectfully submitted,



Linda Mentink, Secretary
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