[Nfb-editors] Alaska's Monthly Newsletter, June 2011

[Robert Leslie Newman]

Here is the June copy of the Alaska monthly newsletter- 

 

NFB of Alaska

Newsletter

June 2011

>From My Desk:

        As I sit down writing this Newsletter on a glorious Memorial Day
here in Anchorage, I pause and think of all the sacrifices that our brave
and gallant members of the Armed Forces have given to all of us and to the
Country. I want to personally thank our Affiliate members that have given of
themselves through their time with their service. Thank you!

        June is also a time to remember Fathers on Father’s Day coming up
June 19th. Happy Father’s Day!

        As an update from the Midnight Sun Chapter, and their Yard/Craft
Sale held May 20th through the 22nd, they generated over $642 for their
Chapter. Well done! Special thanks to Jim and Hanne for hosting the event,
Rick and Juanita for transporting the items to the event, and to those that
showed up to help with the sale as well. Thank you also to those that showed
up for the Chapter meeting/BBQ afterwards.

        On a segway of sorts from the above segment, please keep Tracy
Packee, the Midnight Sun Chapter President, in mind; after our first day in
Anchorage, Tracy had an accident getting out of a chair, and fell, breaking
two bones in her right leg, leaving her laid up for the next 12 to 13 weeks
with no pressure on her leg. I have to say this, “Tough break” to have this
done now and miss the summer. I’m sure I’ll hear about this later.

 

Article of the Month:

        This is an Article that Bonnie Lucas, the Anchorage Chapter
President, submitted for this month’s Newsletter. Thank you Bonnie!

This was published in the Future Reflections issue about Braille about three
years ago. It was a fun article to write and I feel honored to have had it
published in that magazine. I truly respect the work of the NOPBC. Hope you
enjoy this piece. Bonnie

Future Reflections         Special Issue: A Celebration of Braille

Heirloom Technology

By Bonnie Lucas

In the spring of 1967, I was ten years old and finishing the sixth grade at
the California School for the Blind in Berkeley. It was the last day of
school, the talent show was over, and everyone anxiously awaited the final
dismissal words from the principal, Mr. Tuttle. I was barely listening when
I vaguely heard him say something about giving a Braille writer to the best
intermediate student in the school. When I heard the word “intermediate,” I
tuned him out because to my friends and me, intermediate referred to the
students who were about junior high age but were not on grade level. Then I
did a double take. Why, he was saying my name, “Bonnie Owens.” I jumped up,
screaming with jubilation, and dashed from my seat on the front row up onto
the stage.

Mr. Tuttle had announced that someone named Miss Heloise from the Perkins
School for the Blind was giving the Braille writer to the most outstanding
student in the school. The words, “Sent with love--Heloise,” were inscribed
on the top of the Braille writer inside the depression where the handle lies
when it’s not being carried. Though I do not remember exactly who this great
woman was, I do remember the joy that was in my heart that day. I knew
students whose families had purchased Braille writers for them, but for my
family, making such a purchase was out of the question. I am sure there was
not even one Braille writer in my hometown of Blythe, a rural farming town
in the hot desert of California, located on the Colorado River. How excited
I was to think that now, during the long summer days while hanging out at my
dad’s insurance office, I could write lengthy, drawn-out letters to my
girlfriends using a Braille writer instead of a slate and stylus. For me,
summers were pretty boring; they consisted of spending day after day at my
parents’ insurance office with my brother and sister. Though I loved reading
books (which I did much of the time) and watching television, having a
Braille writer meant I could write as well as read.

Over the years this Braille writer proved to be a tough machine. Each year
when I left for school, I had to leave it behind (my mother would not let me
take it with me). So, every summer when I returned home, I would happily
wipe off layers of dust and shake out the Cheerios and small toys
contributed by my little sister and the myriad of kids that my mother
babysat. It always worked as well as ever, and I would quickly get busy
writing important letters and “documents.” One summer I used it to make a
record of the high temperature each day (Blythe is famous for having very
high temperatures in the summer). 

When I started ninth grade, I was able to live at home as a mainstreamed
student in my local school. My Braille writer took on the important role of
taking notes as my mother read chapter after chapter of books that were not
available to me either on tape or in Braille. Occasionally, I took it to
school to use in my algebra class. I also continued to write lengthy letters
to my friends in the California School for the Blind that I had left behind.

When I graduated from high school, my trusty Braille writer came with me to
Utah where I attended college at Brigham Young University. I began keeping a
journal and consequently have a number of binders full of journal entries
from my college days. In one class, I wrote a 60-page autobiography.
Whatever I wrote in Braille that needed to be handed in for my classes, I
would read line by line and then type it into print with my manual Underwood
portable typewriter, a machine my mother purchased for me with her lovingly
collected Blue Chip Stamps.

After completing my undergraduate degree, I looked for over a year for a job
without success. So, I took some classes to become a medical transcriber. In
the eventual job that resulted, I used both my Braille writer and my slate
and stylus to write endless numbers of medical terminology cards for the
huge Rolodex that contained spellings and definitions of the countless words
I needed to have available to perform my typing job.

Not feeling content with being a medical transcriber forever, I applied to
graduate school and was accepted into the Master of Social Work program at
the University of Kansas. Again, my trusted Braille writer came along. This
time, it was employed as the best rough-draft writer known to man. Oh, the
papers I wrote with it! The process went something like this: Once I had
selected my topic, I would meet a reader (a live person that I employed to
read to me) at the library. We would begin by finding research articles
which the reader recorded on tape. Then, using you know what, I would take
notes on the taped material. Next, I would Braille the rough draft. After I
had my Braille draft copy, my next step was to personally record the entire
paper, speaking as clearly and concisely as possible, including all the
punctuation, and spelling out difficult words. Finally, using a transcribing
machine, I was ready to type my paper from my recording. (While working as a
transcriber, I had purchased an IBM Selectric correcting typewriter. Man, I
really thought I had joined the world of technology with that baby!) The
very last step in the process was to hire a proofreader who was good at
putting the paper back in the typewriter and aligning it to fix any mistakes
I had inadvertently made. 

All of this happened over twenty-five years ago. During the years as
full-time wife and mother, my Braille writer has served our family well. It
is the appointment scheduler, phone directory creator, “to-do” and grocery
list maker, the recipe writer, the Tupperware party list compiler,
entertainment for my children, and much, much more. My four children are
nearly raised and yet this Braille writer still resides in my home. It is
not stuck in a closet gathering dust either. Lately, its time is spent on
the desk of Aubrie, my twelve-year-old who is also blind. Though its life is
rather leisurely at this point (mostly helping Aubrie with her math) it is
always available in the event of a modern technology crash. Who says
heirlooms have to be jewelry or furniture? Hmm, I wonder if it is time to
give it a name--any suggestions?

About the Author:

Editor’s Note: Bonnie is active in the NFB parents’ division, but that’s
about all I knew about her before she submitted the whimsical piece above.
After reading her article, I was intrigued and wanted to know more: did she
ever use her degree and work outside the home? How did she get involved in
the NFB? So I asked her. Here’s what she said:

My parents had no experience with blindness or blind people as far as I
know. They waited to send me to the blind school until I was six because it
was hard for them to send me away. At the blind school, I was paid $8 each
month for making beds for the younger children. Unfortunately, that was the
last time I worked until after graduating from college. My parents did not
encourage me to do much outside of my home, but I did plenty of things at
the blind school.

After completing my MSW, I spent another fourteen months looking for work.
During those months, I met my future husband (at church), and by the time I
found a full-time job, we were engaged. I quit that job the day my first
child was born. 

I went back to work part time when my first two children were very young. My
mother-in-law managed an agency which provided home health care and nursing
home support. At that time, nursing homes did not have to hire fully
qualified social workers but their social work designees did have to be
supervised by certified social workers. So, I worked for my mother-in-law as
a supervising social worker. I often took my children with me, and Grandma
(my mother-in-law) took them around to visit and entertain the residents
while I did my work. That job worked well for me until the state changed the
regulations. 

I did not join the NFB until I was nearly fifty. I thought I didn’t need it;
in fact, after leaving the blind school, I had very few blind friends. I
began to reconsider that decision after my youngest daughter, Aubrie, was
born blind. Then we moved to Utah and I met Norm Gardner. He challenged my
opinions about the NFB and encouraged me to do my own research about the
organization. I did, and realized that much of what I believed about
blindness was the same as the NFB philosophy. Although I’m not a failure, I
would have done many things in my life differently had I been involved in
the NFB. I decided I wanted Aubrie to have the opportunities and ingrained
philosophies that the NFB could give her. I believe she is well on her way
to making the NFB a part of her life’s plan.

Today, three of my children are grown and out of the house. Aubrie is my
last child at home, and I am in the process of determining what I should do
in the next phase of my life. I am leaning toward either teaching blind
children or becoming a rehab teacher to work with the ever increasing
population of adults losing their vision. 

When I think about the NFB, I am so grateful for the Utah members who
encouraged me and became my role models. I am proof that you can teach an
old dog new tricks. 

 

Recipe of the Month:

Thank you Dana!

Taco Soup

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1-2 cloves minced garlic

1 package of Taco Bell Taco mix

1 14.5 ounce can corn with juice

1 14.5 ounce can black beans with juice

1 14.5 ounce can kidney beans with ½ of the juice

1 14.5 ounce can stewed tomatoes 

1 can tomato sauce

1 14.5 ounce can chili beans with juice

Brown the hamburger, add onion and garlic and cook until onion is
transparent.  Add Taco Seasoning Mix and stir to blend.  Add the corn, black
beans, kidney beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and the chili beans.

Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

Serve with grated cheese, chopped green onion and sour cream on top.  This
is good the day you make it and is even better the next day.

Serves 6-8 people

Upcoming Events:

June 17th: Midnight Sun Chapter Meeting

                        Location & Time: TBA

June 19th: Happy Father’s Day!

June 20th: Wasilla Chapter Meeting

                        Wasilla Senior Center 6pm

June 21st: Anchorage Chapter Meeting

                        CH2MHILL Building 6pm

July 3 to 8: NFB National Convention

                             Location: Orlando, Florida

July 11 to 16:  Camp Abilities

                                      University of Alaska Anchorage Campus

July 17 to 23:  Youth Slam 2011

                                      Towson University, Maryland

October 7th & 8th: Alaska NFB State Convention

                                        Anchorage Westmark Hotel

Final Thought:

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two
most beautiful words in the English language.
-- Henry James
 

Bill Packee

National Federation of the Blind

Alaska State President

State NFB Youth Coordinator

(907) 888-8322

Email: alaskanfb at yahoo.com

State Website: www.alaskanfb.org <http://www.alaskanfb.org/> 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/alaskanfb

Twitter: www.twitter.com/alaskanfb

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Leslie Newman

President, Omaha Chapter NFB

President, NFB Writers' Division

Division Website

 <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/> http://www.nfb-writers-division.org

Chair, Newsletter Publication committee

Personal Website-

 <http://www.thoughtprovoker.info/> http://www.thoughtprovoker.info