[Nfb-editors] Utah- Blindness Matters February 2014

Wed Mar 12 19:21:53 UTC 2014

Blindness Matters 

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Blindness Matters news letter for the
Utah Affiliate, February, 2014.

This issue includes a quote from the book Freedom for the Blind, a word from
our President Everette Bacon, updates and upcoming events to the chapters
within our affiliates, Scholarship news, the upcoming state convention, word
about the book club and the Bell program.

If you are not receiving emails from our affiliate including a copy of this
newsletter and would like to do so, please send a message to
nfbutah at gmail.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Please note
that if you'd like a copy in Braille let your chapter presidents know.

A quote from James H. Omvig from the book Freedom for the blind:

To be empowered is:

the emotional adjustment

mastery of the alternative techniques

the ability to cope calmly with the misconceptions of others 

 the ability to blend in to the broader society which are essential to
enable the blind person truly to take control of his or her life and to
become the best that he or she is capable of becoming."

Bacon's Bits:

Spring is definitely in the air! The Ground hog saw his shadow but my
understanding is that he is no longer in his hole! The NFB of Utah has been
very active this winter. Our Washington Seminar saw 16 members from across
the state of Utah brave the cold temperatures of our Nation's capital and
met with our Utah Congressmen and Senators. We also held a very successful
Legislative Breakfast with our local Utah legislators up at our state
capital. and 

Our Annual Utah State Convention is right around the corner

and should definitely heat things up for all of us! We are scheduled to hold
our convention at the Provo Marriott in Provo, UT. May 8 - 10, and our
registration will be open beginning on March 1st! The hotel rates will be
$69 per night! Our National Representative will be Scott LaBarre, Scott is
the current President of the NFB of Colorado and is also a member of our NFB
Board of Directors. We will also have Greg DeWall, 2012 Bronze Paraolympian,
give us a presentation on Judo! Another great speaker will be Stacy
Cervanka, Stacy is a former aide to Senator Brownback from the state of
Kansas and is now working in Sacramento with the California state
legislature. We will have many other exciting speakers, technology
demonstrations, door prizes, and much more! Please keep checking our website
at 

 www.nfbutah.org

for more information! You can also call our NFB hotline at
801-INFO-NFB(463-6632).

I look forward to seeing all of you at our Annual state convention and I
also hope to see you at an upcoming Chapter meeting! Please feel free to
contact me at my email address 

 baconev at yahoo.com

if you have any questions or items you would like to discuss with me.
Cordially,

Everette bacon

President, NFB of Utah

801-INFO-NFB(463-6632)

www.nfbutah.org

The Bell Program:

We will be holding the Braille enrichment through Literacy and learning
Program again this summer. The dates are June 16 through June 27 at
Millcreek Elementary school in Salt Lake City. We are inviting students from
age 4 through age 12-years-old to come. 

The program is designed to help students learn to like Braille, build
confidence, and except their blindness. The students will interact with
other blind students and blind adults. They are introduced to braille
through a variety of activities. Their confidents is built by taking 2 field
trips and learning about what blind people can do. We have had a lot of fun
the past 4 years and look forward to having another great program this year.

Wendy Bybee 

Chapter news and Events:

Salt Lake City Chapter news and up coming events:

We have a great group of blind, visually impaired and sighted people who
support each other and also have a good time together. We also try to find
ways to make a difference in our community through service and education. We
invite all those in the Salt Lake County area to join with us in our mission
to continue to redefine what it means to be blind!

Chapter Meetings: 4th Saturday, 10 AM

Location: Usually Downtown Library, but subject to change

Coming up:

March 22nd our chapter is meeting at DSBVI: 250 N 1950 W for an activity
day. We will be playing games, contests and eating. Come join us.

April 26 - Chapter meeting in the library. Agenda not planned yet. We will
be making sure we are ready for State Convention in May.

May 24 - we are going on a Spring-time hike somewhere in Salt Lake County
for our chapter meeting.

June 21 - not planned yet

July 26 - not planned yet

August 23 - Annual BBQ with swimming and games in Turley's backyard.

Red Rocks Chapter:

The Red Rocks Chapter continues to seek new growth in numbers and scope.
Along with all of the meetings and activities of 2013, we had our Christmas
Party at the Golden Corral Restaurant again this year, we had 19 chapter
members attend the party.

We took a field trip to Snow Canyon State Park as one of our chapter
meetings. Chapter members brought sack lunches and were treated to a special
hands-on lecture that included handling some of the creatures that inhabit
the area and then we took a ranger guided walking tour of the park.

Our chapter held two fundraisers during the year. Both were at Chili's
Restaurant which added some needed funds to our chapter coffers. Most
recently, the Lions Club of Southern Utah, held a fundraiser in St. George
on February 7th, 2014 that we hope will also add funds to our account.

As I mentioned last year, one of our chapter members had a book published.
The authors name is Traci McDonald. The book title is "Killing Casanova" and
is available in paperback, on Blio, and at the Amazon store. She has a new
book coming out this spring called "Burning Bridger". I am looking forward
to reading it with great anticipation. Traci is planning to have a booth to
promote and sell her books at the State Convention in Provo this year. Look
for her there.

Our meetings are usually held on the third Saturday of the month at 1:00 PM.
The chapter is in the process of solidifying an agreement for a meeting
space. The new location for the meetings will be posted on the NFB of Utah's
website NFBUtah.org when an agreement has been finalized.

A division for youth has been formed by some of the older youth and chapter
members who will act as mentors for the blind children in our area. It is
called Club SILVER. Meetings are still being conducted to develop the
purpose and mission of the group and to find resources for funding. Having
parents involved is crucial. The philosophy of the NFB will be one of the
main focuses of the meetings. We will be able to share more information as
the club moves forward.

The Red Rocks Chapter always welcomes new members, residents of Washington
County, and encourages visitors to enjoy the warmth of our hospitality and
weather.

Robert Olsen, President

Utah Valley Chapter

Hello Fellow Federationist of Utah!

The Utah Valley Chapter is laying the foundation for future growth within
the chapter and awareness within the community. Recently our focus has been
on fundraising efforts. Our board was able to secure two vehicle donations.
One of these automobiles will be donated to the National Affiliate as part
of their fundraising efforts. The other automobile was sold to a salvage
yard and the proceeds will go towards future chapter activities and events!
Additionally, we held a fundraising event in collaboration with California
Pizza Kitchen. This was well attended and the Utah Valley Chapter would like
to thank any who supported our chapter by eating at the Fashion Place Mall
or Gateway Mall locations. We have a few more ideas for fundraising events
during the summer months and are busily planning and working on these ideas.

Recently it became necessary to change the location of our monthly Chapter
Meetings. We now meet at the Orem Public Library on the fourth Saturday of
every month. This has been a welcomed change to this point. The location and
services of the Orem Public Library are more accommodating to our chapter,
due to the fact that a greater percentage of our membership lives in
northern Utah County. 

In January we had a panel discussion with members of our chapter discussing
the accomplishments and challenges they have encountered in their education,
the workplace, and maintaining a home. There was tremendous insight shared
and everyone benefitted from the panel's experiences.

In the next few months we will be learning more about the experiences our
chapter members had at Washington Seminar, the various legislative efforts
the NFB is undertaking, Federation philosophy, and meeting our new DSBVI
Rehabilitation Counselor. We will also be holding elections in April. Four
of the six positions are up for election and it should be interesting to see
who is elected or re-elected to the Utah Valley Chapter board.

Lastly, our chapter is excited to welcome all Federationists of Utah to the
2014 National Federation of the Blind of Utah State Convention, May 8-10, at
the Provo Marriott. We are excited to see everyone and reenergize our
Federation Spirit for the year to come!

President Steven J. Phelps

Weber/Davis Chapter:

The Weber-Davis Chapter meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Please come
join us for a fun board member elections meeting on Saturday March 15th at
Bill and Sandy Gibson's lovely home located at 3405 South 2700 West,West
Haven. If you need help with transportation or want more information about
the chapter, please contact 

President Barbie Elliott at (801) 513-8552.

scholarships

It's that time once again for students who are blind or visually impaired to
apply for a state and/or national NFB scholarship. It is available online at
www.nfb.org/scholarships .

There are two levels of scholarships to be awarded. 

Firstly, there are national scholarships which range from $3,000 to $12,000
cash. The applications for this scholarship are due by March 31, 2014, and
should be submitted online at www.nfb.org/scholarships or mailed to the NFB
Scholarship Committee:

NFB Scholarship Committee,

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND,

At Jernigan Place, 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230

If you have any questions in regards to the national scholarship, contact
the Scholarship Committee Chairperson, 

Patti Chang, Esq, via telephone: (410) 659-9314 Ext. 2415; or e-mail:
scholarships at nfb.org.

Secondly, this year the National Federation of the Blind of Utah is going to
award at least 5 $2,000 scholarships. The applications are due by April 15,
2014. If a student would like to apply for a state scholarship, simply send
a copy of the national scholarship application which will serve as a state
scholarship application as well.

Mail to:

Sachin Pavithran, Scholarship Committee Chair

141 East 360 North,

Providence, Ut 84332

In order to give the scholarship committee adequate time to review each
scholarship application, please provide a copy of this letter and the
application to your students that are eligible for this scholarship as soon
as possible. We would appreciate if you could spread the word about this
scholarship program. If I can help you with any further information
regarding these scholarships , feel free to email me at
sachin.pavithran at usu.edu

Sincerely,

Sachin Dev Pavithran

Scholarship Committee Chair

National Federation of the Blind of Utah (NFBU)

Email : sachin.pavithran at usu.edu

NFB Book Club:

If you enjoy reading books and discussing them with friends, the NFB-U Book
Club is for you. A different host each time chooses a book for the group,
then on the third Thursday we meet via teleconference to discuss the book.
We meet every other month. March's meeting will be hosted by Ron Gardner.
All are welcome to join. Salt Lake NFB member, Ken Duke is the chairman of
the club. If you would like more information on how to join, please email
Ken at: ken.duke at gmail.com

Thanks,

Mark Turley Salt Lake City Chapter President

Robert Leslie Newman

Personal Website-

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

NFB Writers' Division, President

Division Website-

http://writers.nfb.org

Chair, NFB Communications Committee

Nebraska Senior Division, vice President