[Nfb-editors] South Carolina Newsletter- "News & Views"

Tue May 8 02:59:53 UTC 2012

Boy --- I love it when I find a new "something" that I didn't know existed!
Here is an affiliate newsletter that I did not know was around! (It is not
up on their website, and ah, no one mentioned it). So hey you all, be happy,
we have it and will be seeing more of it! (About 3 times a year)

NEWS AND VIEWS

Gary Ray, President                                         Katherine W.
Barr, Editor

18 Sandon Dr.
3326 Sharon Road

Asheville, NC 28804
Charlotte, NC 28211

(828) 505-0299
(704) 364-4808

Newsletter of the

National Federation of the Blind

of North Carolina

Description: nfblogo

NOVEMBER, 2011

OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS (Revised 2/26/11)

Gary Ray, President

18 Sandon Dr.

Asheville, NC 28804

Home: 828-505-0338

Cell: 919-417-2885

NFB of NC line 828-505-0299

e-mail: ghray at charter.net

Tim Jones, 1st VP

76 Silver Lake Pt.

Sanford NC 27332

Cell: 704-491-1486

e-mail: tmjnc2 at gmail.com

Herman Gruber, 2nd VP

116 Argonne Drive

Durham, NC 27704

Phone: 919-477-6561

Cell: 919-280-5313

e-mail: hermangruber at frontier.com

Sharon Weddington, Secretary

137 Kristens Court Dr

Mooresville, NC 28115-7910

Phone: 704-660-3481

Cell: 704-302-7308

e-mail: locagirl at windstream.net

Boyce Locklear, Treas.

P.O. Box 2633

Lumberton NC 28359

Cell: 910-734-4431

e-mail: blocklear44 at gmail.com

BOARD MEMBERS:

Lusi Radford

3604 Octavia St.

Raleigh, NC 27606

Phone: 919-851-4817

e-mail: Lusi98 at nc.rr.com

Charles Parker

105 Old Barn Ln.

Rocky Mount, NC 27804

Phone: 252-977-1960

e-mail: angusparker at suddenlink.net

Julius Locklear

3102 Kings Court, Apt. A

Raleigh, NC 27606

Cell: 910-740-1129

e-mail: jrl006 at bellsouth.net

Patricia Tessnear

202 Ridge Rd.

Wilson, NC 27896

Phone: 252-291-3405

e-mail: ptessnear at nc.rr.com

Easter Burton

2009 Northcliffe Dr.

Apt 304

Winston-Salem NC 27106

Phone: 336-293-8307

Cell: 336-287-8117

e-mail: eburton16 at triad.rr.com

Sharon Newton

1914 East 7th St. Apt. 4

Charlotte, NC 28204

Phone: 704-334-8758

e-mail: sharonnewton at bellsouth.net

EDITOR:

Katherine Barr

3326 Sharon Rd

Charlotte NC 28211

Phone: 704-364-4808

e-mail: questorl at aol.com

EDITOR'S NOTE

A very happy holiday season to each of you! Please make a New Year's
resolution to send your chapter's news for the February, 2012 Newsletter!
Many of you will empathize when I admit to a loss of a little more central
vision, making it more difficult to read. It would be most helpful if you
submit articles for the Newsletter in Large Print (14 pt). Please FAX (704)
364-8408 or snail mail (email I cannot read). Deadline for the February,
2012 Newsletter is January 30, 2012. We hope to hear from each Chapter!

The Editor

President's Message

By Gary Ray

It sure has been a busy year so far and it promises to be busy for the
foreseeable future. We have several issues looming on the horizon that will
require attention along with our normal business and efforts. We are
currently embroiled in efforts to keep the Governor Morehead School open,
prevent the merger of the Division of Services for the Blind, and to keep
our Newsline program funded. Along with these efforts, we will attend the
Washington Seminar, go to the National Convention, put on our BELL camp, and
schedule our 2012 State Convention. My goodness, after looking back at all
of this, I think I need a nap before going any further. It just makes me
tired.

I am proud to be a part of the NFB of NC. I am honored and humbled by the
faith the affiliate has in me to lead. I owe all that I am to NFB and am
glad to pay back on the debt I owe the organization. We do have our
challenges, but together we will overcome them.

Folks who are interested in going to the Washington Seminar need to start
talking to their Chapters about their desire to go. I do not know how much
the State can give, but it probably will not be any more than the $100 we
did last year. The Seminar is very expensive so folks will need local help
and will probably need to go into their own pockets to cover some of the
costs. If you have questions, give me a buzz on my office line,
828-505-0299. Folks need to start planning for this event very soon.

Dr. Maurer told the Convention this year that the Braille Monitor would no
longer be published on tape past the end of 2011. We are still waiting for
further details. We will continue to do this newsletter on tape, but I can
see a day when we will have to let that go, too. Stay tuned for further
details. We encourage everyone to start getting News and Views by email if
possible. That saves us money.

I feel very positive about what we are doing in the affiliate. Come march
with me into the future! Forward the Federation.

2011 State Convention

By Gary Ray

Most of the time, I cannot tell if an event I organize is a success until it
has been over for some time. I get so torn up organizing and coordinating
that I cannot connect with what is going on and how it is progressing.
Another way I know how it goes is how many folks fuss and growl at me during
and after the event. Based on both of these factors, our recent convention
was a rousing success! We had around 115 folks registered this year and
about the same number for our banquet.

Our National Rep, Ever Lee Hairston, was born and raised near Mocksville so
is a home town girl. I worked her like a dog during the whole convention.
She did sessions for me all day on Friday. We certainly got our money's
worth out of her. One thing that really impressed me was the fact that her
mother came to hear her banquet speech. This really touched me, especially
since my Daddy died in January. Folks raved about Ever Lee's sessions,
speech, and down home air. She helped us raise money after our banquet and
we hope it will help us make it through the year.

This year, for the first time, we had online registration. Folks who
registered online got a $3 discount. We had almost 90 folks who registered
online. This is incredible for our first year!

We actually did 3 tracks on Friday afternoon. So, folks had to make a
decision about what to go do. Attendees could not do it all. Folks are
starting to come to the convention early in order to take advantage of the
Friday offerings. Our Vendor Hall was great, too. Lots of folks went to the
day spa in the hotel. Sessions on Saturday were well received and our
convention Sponsor, VoiceRx was given a good welcome and attention. Our
students were allowed to have a track of meetings Saturday afternoon and it
was well received. Our Sunday business meeting went off without a hitch and
we got finished well ahead of schedule. We had a very moving 9/11
commemoration at the beginning of our Sunday meeting.

The Forsythe Chapter were champs. The hospitality set-up was on the
convention level and was great. Easter McCall and her people did a great
job. I also want to thank Tim Jones and Julius Locklear for all they did
during the convention. Boyce Locklear and Sharon Weddington were great, too.
I cannot do this stuff by myself. It takes many folks working to bring it
all off.

All in all, our 2011 State Convention was great! Who knows where we will go
and what we will do next year! If you want to get hooked in and in touch in
NC, you MUST attend the State Convention.

CHAPTER NEWS

by Laverne Gallant, Sec.

Hello! From the Mecklenburg County Chapter,

In August Laverne and Charles went to the Wachovia/Wells Fargo bank building
to participate in an event featuring several disability groups. They gave
out information provided by the NFB as well as demonstrating several talking
devices such as color detector, laptop computer with speech, money
identifier, etc. Laverne wrote Braille names on Braille alphabet cards for
the people who wanted them.

In September six of our members went to Winston-Salem for the state
convention. The convention was inspiring and informative gearing us up for
the coming year. The hotel staff was very accommodating and it was
enjoyable.

Harry Barr had knee surgery in August and seems to be making good progress.

In October 4 of our members participated in a fundraiser for the RP
foundation. It was called "Dinner in the Dark" where close to 200 sighted
people ate their dinner in absolute darkness. Our members were servers for
the event Most of the people seemed to enjoy the experience.

We scheduled a Meet the Blind month in a park uptown, but it was rained out.
We are planning another time later.

We hope everyone has a blessed holiday season.

Wilson County Chapter by Judie Watson Sec/Treas

Hi, everyone! Fall has come to Eastern NC with warm days and cool nights.

We want to extend our sympathy to the families of Geraldine Narron and Sadie
Corbett. These ladies were long time members and a good friend to all of us
who are blind. We miss them both.

Thanks, Winston-Salem for a great jam-packed convention! Sixteen of our
members attended this year. We want to thank Judy Ewens (David Edwards'
sister). She followed us with our luggage. Since last year's convention we
have added 9 new members. Four attended this year's convention. In July, two
of our members went to Raleigh to protest a bill that would make it legal to
pay disabled workers less than minimum wages. The protest was in front of
Senator Kay Hagen's office. On Sept. 22 five of us attended a public hearing
regarding the closing of one of the residential schools. Tricia Tessnear
spoke in support of keeping the Governor Morehead School for the Blind open.
Tricia also appeared on radio station WRAL to answer questions about GMS.
Jennifer Lantz, Director of Wilson Economic Development Council spoke to us
about how the council recruits businesses to Wilson. She told us about
manufacturing plants here that we may not have known about that are here
already.

We are working hard on selling our tickets, got a drawing at the annual
Whirligig Festival. (Nov. 5 & 6) This is our major fundraiser.

Thanks to all who bought a ticket at this year's convention if your name is
drawn we'll ship you your prize. Have a great rest of the year!

NEWS FLASH!

Attention Parents and Friends of Blind Children

By Cordella Fox

Hello, my name is Cordella Fox. Gary Ray has asked me to reorganize the
North Carolina Parents of Blind Children Division. I am excited and looking
forward to this new adventure.

The North Carolina Parents of Blind Children (NCPOBC) is the state division
of the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC), a
national membership organization of parents and friends of blind children.
POBC is a division of the National Federation of the Blind. Our mission is
to empower families, professionals and the community to meet the needs of
our blind and visually impaired children.

We would like to reach out to parents and educators of blind children to
provide vital support, information and encouragement. We invite all parents,
relatives, educators, blind adults and others interested in promoting
opportunities for blind children in North Carolina to join with us to
achieve our goals.

. To ensure the best possible future for our blind children by promoting
blindness skills, fostering self-esteem and utilizing blind adult role
models to build a solid foundation for a productive life with maximum
independence

. To increase public awareness and foster communication and coordination of
services among state and local agencies and organizations involved in
providing services to blind and visually impaired children in North
Carolina.

. Our blind children will access a fruitful learning experience in the
classroom as well as being able to develop skills in socialization with
other children who are sighted as well as with those who are visually
impaired,

. To create a climate of opportunity for blind children in home and society.

. To provide information and support to parents of blind children.

. To facilitate the sharing of experience and concerns among parents of
blind children

. To develop and expand resources available to parents and their children

. To help parents of blind children gain understanding and perspective
through partnership and contact with blind adults

. To function as an integral part of the National Federation of the Blind in
its ongoing efforts to eliminate discrimination and prejudice against the
blind and to achieve for the blind security, equality and opportunity.

The work of NC POBC is at least three-fold:

First: Educating the parents of blind and visually impaired children that
their children, either blind or visually impaired, are individuals with
unlimited potential as human beings. Their children are a microcosm of our
larger society. Most have the capability of developing their skills and
abilities to the fullest potential just like their sighted peers. Others
will have collateral challenges that will require particular attention.
Those having average to above average intellect and capabilities will be
able to develop their skills, abilities and intellectual capabilities to
extraordinary heights given the tools and opportunities to learn and
experience the breadth of unlimited possibilities. Others will require
varying levels of intervention to assist them in developing their fullest
potentials.

Second: Educational professionals as well as parents must learn that the
public perception of blindness is shortsighted and leads to encouraging
blind children to be dependent because they have no capability of becoming
little more than a ward of the state.

Third: Blind and visually impaired children must be challenged to develop to
their highest potential by giving the encouragement, learning experiences
and life experiences that lead them toward living lives as fully independent
adults and contributing members of their communities.

One crucial aspect of what we are about is to involve as many parents of
blind children in this process as possible, as well as develop a network of
resource persons within our chapter network across the state to assist in
the task of impacting school systems to assist visually impaired and blind
children.

We will be contacting the national office of the NFB to determine the
present and future directions which the National Federation of The Blind is
currently pursuing or will be pursuing to impact both state departments of
education and local school districts in improving the experience of blind
and visually impaired children in the classroom so that our state division
of Parents of Blind Children is in line with National goals and objectives
in this area. Next, we will communicate with those state divisions of POBC
across the country that are experiencing significant progress in impacting
state and local school systems to enhance the learning experience of
visually impaired and blind children.

We have begun the process of identifying NCPOBC resource contact persons in
our chapters across the state through the state newsletter, and will follow
up with phone calls and e-mails to chapter presidents to encourage them to
assist in identifying POBC resource persons from their chapter or in their
communities.

We will be setting short, mid-range, and long-term goals for NCPOBC within
the next few months and have a report in January of 2012.

We ask that the state board be open to becoming informed about the needs of
visually impaired and blind children in their respective communities and
assist in identifying persons in their communities who are willing to serve
as resource persons to parents of blind children as well as to professionals
in their local school systems with regards to the learning and socialization
needs of visually impaired children in their communities.

We are asking for your help in this reorganization. First, please help us
spread the news. If you are a parent of a blind or visually impaired child
or know of a parent of a blind or visually impaired child, please help us
provide the best future for our children. Second, we are asking for one
individual in each chapter in North Carolina to serve as a network
representative for the NC POBC. Our goal is to develop an informed, working
network of resource persons across the state of North Carolina to assist
parents of visually impaired and blind children and assist in advocating for
improvements in the education of visually impaired and blind children. We
thank you in advance for assisting us in providing our children with a
brighter future.

Cordelia Fox

Cell phone # 704-707-3984 Home Phone # 704-787-3206

Foxca01 at gmail.com   5908 Heartwood Court Harrisburg, NC 28076

Ring My BELL

By Gary Ray

>From time, to time, we all experience life-changing occurrences. I had one
of those this past July. From July 11 through July 22, I was involved in the
first NC BELL program in Raleigh. BELL stands for Braille Enrichment for
Literacy and Learning. It is a summer camp for young blind and visually
impaired kids. The goal is to expose kids to braille, mobility, and
non-visual techniques for doing things while having fun.

Mark Riccobono started suggesting BELL to me at the State Convention in
September of 2010. I did not pay much attention at first, but Mark and
National kept the pressure on me. I knew that the only way to do BELL was to
bring in the Braille Literacy Council (BLC). So, I started selling the idea
to all the groups that make up the BLC. One key member of the BLC is the
Friends of the NC Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
(FNCLBPH). Having the FNCLBPH involved would give us strong financial
support and a good way to handle the money. My goal was to build a working
coalition to bring this puppy off. I sure knew I could not do it by myself.
In December of 2010, I put in a bid for the 2011 BELL program with National.
Each year, National expands the program by adding a couple of states.
Frankly, I had no idea we would get the program. Had I thought that we would
get it, I would have probably left the country and spent the rest of my life
hiding out in the South Seas.

I was completely shocked when National awarded us the program. Then, I got
scared. Luckily, the BLC began to step up and the program began to come
together. Miriam Dixon and I attended training in Baltimore. As I found out
what all was going to be involved in BELL, I became more convinced to split
town and head for the Pacific. We had conference calls, made plans,
developed forms, worked on the curriculum, and began to move toward the
event. There were a couple of bumps along the way, but members of the BLC
did their best to keep me cool. Debbie Jackson did an outstanding job of
keeping me from blowing my top on a number of occasions. I did show my butt
a couple of times, but most folks expect that from me. I even tried to back
us out of the whole deal, but National would not let me do it.

I did make one REALLY good decision by picking Yvonne Franz as the second
chair teacher for our NC BELL. National provided a teacher for the first
year. This teacher was paid for with Louis Braille Coin funds. We had to
find a second teacher to handle the curriculum and to learn how BELL works.
The idea is that the second chair would run the program in 2012. We will
need to find a second chair teacher for 2012. BELL is an ongoing program
with the expectation of continuing each year. Yvonne did a great job. I was
very happy. From time to time, I make good decisions.

Another critical part to this year's BELL was the financial support of the
FNCLBPH. They put up $6,000 to fund the program. The NC BELL could not have
happened without FNCLBPH support.

The Division of Services for the Blind made facilities, employees, and
equipment available for our use. This help was critical to the success of
the first NC BELL. Another key player was the Governor Morehead School. We
used the Dining Hall and many of the school's facilities.

We opened applications and finally ended up with 9 kids from age 5 to age
13. These kids were from 5 counties around Raleigh. Again, as time got
short, I was freaking out that we would not have enough kids and the whole
thing would go into the toilet. Everybody patted me on the head and told me
it would be OK.

I left the National Convention on July 10 and came to Raleigh for the
beginning of class on Monday, July 11. I did not go home for almost a month
during July. I was staying on campus so was up bright and early on that day.

Kids started coming in and I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into.
I HATE kids, or at least, I had until I got grandchildren. And, here were
these blind kids coming in to start the program. I was very surprised that
the teachers wanted ME to teach some stuff and to handle the mobility from
place to place on the Morehead campus. What, ME teach? Ah Jeez! But,
something happened during those 2 weeks. I began to enjoy it! Looking back
on it, a deep internal change came over me during BELL. The last day, the
kids gave me some presents, and I was so choked up. These kids are the
future of the blind movement in America. I say it all the time, but it went
inside me to a new level.

Did we work? Yes, we did. Did we have fun? Yes, we did. I got us lost on
campus a time or two getting from place to place. Now that was a sight when
Wesley, one of the kids, said "Mr. Gary, I think we are in the wrong place."
Ah Jeez! So, back we went, with me yelling "Canes on the ground, tap, tap,
tap..."

We did a couple of field trips during BELL, too. We went to the library and
to the Marbles Kids' Museum. What a hoot! What a wonderful time.

Other key factors in our success were our volunteers. We had some folks who
showed up every day, like Johnna Simmones, and some who dropped in to just
read to the kids or to help out for a couple of hours or days. Gina Powell
of the NCLBPH, did a great job coordinating our volunteers.

Well, we are gonna do it again in 2012. Planning is already underway to make
the NC BELL a reality again next year. BELL did something to me. It made a
change deep inside. That has been my whole experience with the NFB along the
road to today. I would not be who I am today without the NFB, and BELL was
another step along my road to the future. I am looking forward to the 2012
BELL and can't wait to scream "Canes on the ground...tap, tap, tap, stay
focused, stay safe...we can do this!"

ProdigyR Makes New Accessible Diabetes Products Available Through North
Carolina Based VoiceRx, Inc.

Prodigy Diabetes Care, Inc. continues to lead the way with innovative new
"blind friendly" diabetes products for the blind and vision impaired.

ProdigyR is the only company to earn Access Plus Awards from both the
National Federation of the Blind and the American Foundation for the Blind
for their Prodigy VoiceR talking blood glucose meter. Prodigy also has the
Count-a doseR product which allows a blind person to fill an insulin syringe
independently without sighted assistance. They are planning to release an
innovative talking pill bottle which has gotten very high "blind friendly"
reviews from the American Foundation for the Blind Accessibility Experts.
This talking pill bottle will be available at the same cost sighted people
pay for their prescription pill bottles - no charge with the standard cost
of a prescription.

The new talking pill bottle will be available through North Carolina based
VoiceRx, Inc., a mail order pharmacy which will fill your prescriptions in
the VoiceRxT talking pill bottle and deliver them to your door.

Jerry Munden, Director of Business Development at VoiceRx, Inc., is a recent
recipient of the 2011 NFB Bolotin Award for outstanding service to the
blind. Jerry plans to go all out to provide award winning ProdigyR products
and excellent service for people who order their needed supplies through
VoiceRx, Inc.

In addition to the best accessible products, VoiceRx also makes available,
at no cost to VoiceRx customers, excellent educational materials for living
with diabetes and blindness. These materials include:

o   The NFB audio book "Bridging the Gap, Living with Blindness and
Diabetes" authored by 19 experts in the blindness and diabetes field.

o   The new training "Tools and Techniques for Managing Diabetes
Non-Visually," Produced and directed by reknowned Blind Industries and
Services of Maryland (BISM). This training demonstrates the skills for
living well with diabetes using non-visual techniques. Instruction is
presented by Lynn Baillif, MS, RD, LDN, CDE, a blind diabetes educator, and
includes a demonstration on how to use the ProdigyR VoiceT and Prodigy
Count-a-doseR products.

o   "Adaptive Blood Glucose Monitoring with Vision Loss" authored by Debra
Sokol-McKay, MS, CVRT, CLVT, CDE, OTR/L, SCLV. VoiceRx was also at the North
Carolina NFB State Convention in Winston-Salem, NC in September. In fact,
Prodigy and VoiceRx were the main convention sponsors.

To receive additional information about high quality affordable "blind
friendly" medical products, please call VoiceRx, Inc. at 877-319-6418. You
may also visit their website at www.voicerxinc.com or send them email at
contact at voicerxinc.com.

Robert Leslie Newman

Personal Website-

Adjustment To Blindness And Visual impairment

http//www.thoughtprovoker.info

NFB Writers' Division, president

http://www.nfb-writers-division.net 

Chair of the NFB Communications Committee   

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