[Nfb-editors] North Carolina - News and Views - December 2014

[Robert Leslie Newman]

NEWS AND VIEWS

 

Sharon Weddington, President                    Katherine W. Barr, Editor

137 Kristens Court Drive                                            3326
Sharon Road

Mooresville, NC 28115                                             Charlotte,
NC 28211

(704) 660-3481
(704) 364-4808



 

Newsletter of the

National Federation of the Blind

of North Carolina

 




 


DECEMBER, 2014




Federation Board Members 2013-2014


NFB of NC


(Revised 12/11/14)


 




President:

Sharon Weddington

137 Kristens Court Drive

Mooresville, NC 28115

phone: 704-660-3481

cell: 704-302-7308

e-mail: locagirl at windstream.net <mailto:locagirl at windstream.net> 

 

First Vice-President:

Tim Jones

76 Silver Lake Pt.

Sanford, NC 27332

cell: 704-491-1486

e-mail: tmjnc2 at gmail.com <mailto:tmjnc2 at gmail.com> 

 

Second Vice-President:

Charles Parker

105 Old Barn Lane

Rocky Mount NC 27804

phone: 252-977-1960

e-mail: angusparker at suddenlink.net <mailto:angusparker at suddenlink.net> 

 

Secretary:

Jeremiah Rogers

9801 Windy Meadow Lane

Charlotte NC 28269

phone: 704-765-1221

cell: 704-996-5334

e-mail: jeremiahzrogers at gmail.com <mailto:jeremiahzrogers at gmail.com> 

Treasurer:

Boyce Locklear

P O Box 2633

Lumberton, NC 28359

cell: 910-734-4431

e-mail: blocklear44 at gmail.com <mailto:blocklear44 at gmail.com> 

 

News & Views Editor:

Katherine Barr

3326 Sharon Rd.

Charlotte, NC 28211

phone: 704-364-4808

e-mail: harrysbarr at gmail.com <mailto:harrysbarr at gmail.com> 

 

Board Members:

Joy Scott

1111 Ivey Church Road

Maiden, NC 28650

phone: 828-428-3239

cell: 864-483-3455

e-mail: joynjesus at live.com <mailto:joynjesus at live.com> 

 

Alan Chase

1217 Manassas court Unit C

Raleigh, NC 27609

phone: 910-612-2220

e-mail: achase11 at nc.rr.com <mailto:achase11 at nc.rr.com> 

 

 

 

 

Julius Locklear

2228 Leadenhall Way

Raleigh NC 27603

cell: 910-740-1129

e-mail: julius.locklear1 at gmail.com <mailto:julius.locklear1 at gmail.com> 

 

Ronald Broadnax

405 Southshore Parkway

Durham, NC 27703

phone: 919-596-0837

cell: 919-740-9131

e-mail: rbroadnax at frontier.com <mailto:rbroadnax at frontier.com> 

 

Laurancene Murphy

2930 Zion Renaissance

Charlotte, NC 28269

phone: 704-971-0303

e-mail: lsm4 at ctc.net <mailto:lsm4 at ctc.net> 

 

Rosie Bethea

1449 Hawkcrest Lane

Winston Salem NC 27127

phone: 336-816-1777

email: rosiebethea at att.net <mailto:rosiebethea at att.net> 

 

Wanda Toler

355 Toler Road

Ernul NC 28527

phone: 252-637-2364

email: billiam_99 at hotmail.com <mailto:billiam_99 at hotmail.com> 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 






 


EDITOR'S NOTE


 

Happy holidays, everyone! Congratulations, Madam President, Sharon
Weddington! We look forward to working with you. Thank you, former President
Gary Ray, for your many years working to make the lives of blind people
better. As usual, we hope to hear news from many chapters for the March,
2015 Newsletter. Deadline is February 20, 2015.

 

The Editor

 

 

 


PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE


By Sharon Weddington, Pres.


 

Merry Christmas to all my fellow Federationist!

 

I want to give a big shout out and a tremendous thank you to Katherine Barr,
the editor of the News and Views. Katherine and her husband Harry have been
doing this newsletter for 20 years and have been doing a great job. Harry
recently broke his back and is doing well according to Katherine. They
continue to keep us informed by putting together the information provided to
them from across the state. Katherine and Harry, on behalf of all
Federationist in NC, thanks for your dedication and hard work for the NFB of
NC.

 

Wow, to be President of the National Federation of the Blind of North
Carolina. What a honor! Thanks to everyone for electing me as your state
President, I will do my best to guide the State with the help of all
Federationist in NC. You have a state board to be proud of and I am looking
forward to working with them as we help blind people everywhere "Live the
life they want to live".

 

Please remember the Washington Seminar is coming up quickly. The dates are
January 26-28, 2015. The Board of Directors voted to assist 10 members to go
in the amount of $200 each upon receiving receipts. 4The board also voted to
assist no more than 2 members per chapter. If you are interested in going
please notify me as soon as possible. You can email me at
Weddington.sharon at gmail.com or you may call me at 704-302-7308. The deadline
for reservations will be December 15, 2014. Please do not call the hotel and
make your own reservations. National will be doing this. I do not have the
topics yet, but will pass them on as soon as they are released. This is a
good opportunity to let your voice be heard about the needs of blind people.

 

I want to encourage all chapters to submit information about your chapter to
the editor so we can all spread the word about how well our chapters are
doing. Word of mouth is the best advertising, so let's talk it up. What are
your fund raisers? What do you do at your chapter meetings to keep members
informed? Do you orient new members? Is someone celebrating a birthday or
the birth of a new baby or maybe a milestone anniversary? We want to
congratulate them. We also want to share in sad times, so if there is a
death or serious illness let us know. We always want to hear about our
extended family.

 

Start making your plans now to go to the NFB national convention in Orlando
Florida July 5-10, 2015. This will be the one you don't want to miss since
we will be celebrating our 75th anniversary.

 

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and be truly thankful for all the many
things we have in our lives both big and small. I hope each of you had a
good thanksgiving. I know I don't want any more turkey for a while. Now we
are entering the Christmas holidays. This is my favorite time of the year. I
love to put the decorations in my yard, on my house, and yes all through the
house. Do you ever get tired of hearing Christmas music, I don't. It's also
a great time to bake cookies and not feel guilty about eating them. Gifts
come in many different packages and my Christmas wish is that each of you
will give the gift that comes from the heart. Let's remember others and ways
to do that might be, a phone call to a friend you haven't called in a while
or a call to a person who lives alone, go visit that elderly person who
loves to tell their story, invite a person to join your family for a
Christmas meal and just maybe you can offer to help shovel snow. I asked
Santa for a white Christmas, so we will see what happens. You can't wrap
these gifts in pretty paper or put a bow in them, but it is more meaningful
than the prettiest package under the tree. Federationist are caring, giving
people and Christmas is a time to let it show. Most importantly let's
remember the true reason for the season, the birth of Jesus. May God bless
each of you this Christmas season and may the New Year bring only good
things for you and yours.

 

 

 


Buncombe County Chapter


by Doug Smith, Sec.


 

This summer, many of our members enjoyed a wonderful time at Camp Dogwood.
We were welcomed as warmly as ever and the activities keep getting better
each year. Among our members attending camp this year were: Billy Morrissey,
Joanne Baker, Rick Mallick, Doug Smith and Kim Owen.

 

We played games, enjoyed the water front, crafts, devotions and all the
customary activities the camp has to offer. This year, however, Doug Smith
and Rick Mallick attended a ham radio demonstration where computer software
was used to replace the expensive and complex radio equipment usually
associated with this interesting hobby.

 

We also enjoyed the fun activities of fishing, boating and swimming at the
water front and the entertainment of letting the guide dogs swim in the lake
with us.

 

 

 

This year, 5 of our chapter members attended the national convention in
Orlando. These members were Gary and Linda Ray, Gary, Darlene and Daniel
Davis.

 

Two developments that may be of interest to Federationists around the state
are the availability of the KNFB reader software for use with the I-phone.
This will allow users of this product to OCR and read printed documents with
the camera on the phone and the software which will be available for $99.00.
The second development may help many of us when we go shopping. The Bureau
of Engraving has said that they will be giving out the I-bill money
identifiers after the first of the year 2015. To get one of these devices
which is able to identify all bills currently in circulation and which can
be upgraded by the manufacturers to identify new bills that may be issued in
the future, is to get in touch with the NCLBPH and, if you are a library
patron, you can tell them to put you on the list for an I-bill as soon as
they are available at the first of the year.

 

This year's NFB of NC convention was a wonderful experience. Thanks to the
Wake chapter for one of the best conventions I can remember.

 

Five of our members attended the convention this year. These were: Gary Ray,
Billy Morrissey, Rick Mallick, Doug Smith and Kim Owen. We all enjoyed the
many different activities which were a part of the convention this year. All
of the sessions were wonderful as well.

 

We would like to extend special thanks once again to the members of the Wake
County chapter for all the hospitality and for all that went into making
this year's conventions one of the best in recent memory.

 

 

 

 

 


Mecklenburg County Chapter


by Mary Le O'Daniel, Pres.


 

In September, 14 of our members attended the State Convention. As many of
you know, it was a great convention. Many thanks to Wake County Chapter for
all their hard work.

 

In October, we had our Annual Bingo fundraiser. It was a great success,
thanks to the efforts of many of our members. Everybody had a great time and
is looking forward to next year.

 

One of our long-time members, Nell Speidel, has been in the hospital and is
now in a Rehabilitation facility. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
Madeline Moreno broke her kneecap but is well on her way to healing. Renora
Crawford's mother, Ruth Hyman, passed away. We offer her our sympathy.

 

Win Brown and Laverne Gallant have done programs for several schools in the
area. In May, Mary Le O'Daniel hosted a group of people with disabilities
from Egypt, who wanted to learn about the NFB and services for blind people
in the US. In September she hosted a group of disability professionals from
the Republic of Georgia. They had many questions about disability laws in
the US and whether they were effective in reality.

 

 

 


Nash-Edgecombe Chapter


by Charles Parker


 

Didn't the Wake County Chapter put on a great convention! Our chapter had
eleven members to attend with three of these being first timers. Again,
congratulations to Wake County.

 

Captain Matt Trantham from the Salvation Army attended October's meeting and
spoke with the chapter about the variety of services provided by this
organization. Hopefully we will have some volunteers to ring the bells at
Christmas as a community activity.

 

Our chapter along with the Wilson Chapter is planning a week end trip to
visit NFB's headquarters in Baltimore on May 15, 2015. We're thinking that
we'll have space for others to go with us. Stand by for more announcements
coming soon.

 

 

 


Let's Laugh!


By Harry Barr


 

During a long flight delay, most of the passengers deplaned. A blind
passenger's guide dog had to be taken for a walk, and the pilot volunteered.
Wearing sunglasses, he led the dog out to the waiting area. Few of the
passengers were eager to reboard.

 

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