[Nfbc-info] Tri Valley Chapter and San Joquin County Chapter 2 in a row!

[Mary Willows]

Hello All:
Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend two of our chapter 
meetings in one day.  I have made a personal commitment to get to as many 
chapter meetings as I possibly can and this time I set a new record.  Not 
bad, huh?

The Tri Valley Chapter meets at 1:00in Livermore and the San Joquin County 
Chapter held a posta feed at 5:00 in Stockton.  Both were renewing to me.  I 
had an opportunity to share our message of support for fair wages for 
disabled workers and thank people for supporting Chemistry Camp at "Catch 
Our Dreams".  Chapters are raising funds to assist members to the convention 
in Los Angeles in just a few weeks.  More about that in a minute.

The Tri Valley Chapter will continue to sell first aid kits for all 
occasions.  The most popular seems to be the "home" version and the "sports" 
version.  Our dog guide users are considering selling the "pet" version. 
Talk to Shannon Dillon for more information.

After heading east on 580, I arrived just in time to attend the San Joquin 
County Chapter fundraising posta feed.  It was held at the Community Center 
for the Blind in Stockton.  The food was great and the entertainment was 
fun.  I won a CD that has early songs of Nora Jones.  President Ken Volonte 
spoke about the purpose of the fundraiser and introduced me to everyone.  I 
saw old friends and met new people from the Stockton area.  Ken will be 
speaking to us at the convention about how to organize a posta feed of your 
own for your local chapter.

So if you haven't made your hotel reservations yet, do not put it off any 
longer.  We will have a California Association of Guide Dog Users Seminar on 
Thursday, October 18 followed by our semi-annual meeting of the Board of 
Directors at 5:00 P.M.  The evening will give everyone an opportunity to 
"Meet and Greet" the officers and board members by way of a progressive 
social event in the hotel.  Friday, October 19th, is exhibit hall day and 
break-out sessions.  Everyone is invited to a talent show in the evening. 
Saturday and Sunday are general sessions.  You won't want to miss any of 
it.Our national representative is Mark Riccobono, Executive Director of the 
Jernigan Institute.  There will be door prizes and auctions throughout the 
weekend.

Call the hotel for a reservation at (310) 640-3600.  Room rates are $116.00 
for singles and doubles.  Bring all your friends and share the room. 
Triples and Quads are $129.00.  A suite will hold up to four adults and that 
makes the room rate only $35.00 per night.

Once you have a reservation confirmation number you can register at our 
website  www.nfbcal.org

See you soon.



Mary Willows, President
National Federation of the Blind of California
mwillows at sbcglobal.net