[Nfbf-l] Exciting Day!!

[Merry Schoch]

Hi Sherrill,
Thanks so much for participating again.  It is always great to have you with 
us.

Thanks again and Hannah (on my lap) says hi!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sherrill O'Brien" <sherrill.obrien at verizon.net>
To: "NFB of Florida Listserv" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Denise Prophet" <Denise at brailleworks.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 5:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Exciting Day!!


> Helllo all,
>
> I'm home from the University of Florida's Children's Festival, and it was
> truly a beautiful day.  This is an event growing in popularity each year. 
> I
> wrote about 100  names on our Louis Braille alphabet cards, which I hope
> you're all taking advantage of, by the way.  They are free from the
> Independence Market.  Just call the national office (410) 659-9314, to 
> order
> them.
>
> As Merry said in her post, we handed out helium filled balloons, so many
> that we ran out of helium!  The kids liked the print/Braille storybook I
> read to them, especially since it was about a balloon.  The Braille 
> scrabble
> game was a hit, and one of the little ones ran to get his mother and told
> her, "Mama, this lady can look with her fingers!"  And, between name 
> writing
> with the slate, I tried as best I could to explain to the parents how
> important it is that our blind children learn and use Braille every day, 
> as
> a sighted child would use print.
>
> I want to thank Marion and Merry for once again asking me to participate 
> in
> such a worthwhile and fun event.  I was so busy today I didn't even get 
> the
> chance to go and pet the huge old tortoise which was a big hit again this
> year.
>
> Hey, everyone, Have fun setting all your clocks forward tonight!!  You 
> don't
> realize how many of the darned things you have until you have to do that.
>
> Sherrill
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
> Behalf Of Merry Schoch
> Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 7:46 AM
> To: NFB of Florida Listserv
> Cc: Denise Prophet
> Subject: [Nfbf-l] Exciting Day!!
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> I have been so stressed out studying to take the GRE test this Monday;
> however, today I have set that to the side and am thrilled about what the
> East Hillsborough chapter is doing.  We are participating in the 
> Children's
> Festival at USF and , of course, our focus is on braille.  We aren't doing
> too much different from last year's event except for passing out balloons 
> to
> the kids.  Thanks to Braille Works we have balloons that on one side has 
> the
> Louis Braille coin, NFB, and Braille Readers are Leaders logo as well as 
> the
> Braille Works logo on the opposite side.  I love what their logo states,
> "Making the World a More Readable Place".  How absolutely empowering it 
> will
> be for a blind child or one who has the potential of going blind, to have
> the opportunity to learn braille as a child and have the tools available 
> to
> assist this child to be a "leader".
>
> I am please to be a part of today's events.  We will have displayed our
> braille Scrabble game, NFB literature, and will have for the first time at
> the event  "story times" thanks to our one and only State Braille campaign
> coordinator, Sherrill O'Brien.  We will again distribute braille alphabet
> cards with the child's (and sometimes adult's) name brailled on it.   Then
> the thing I love the best and that is the interaction with the children.
>
> We have containers that are covered each with different items in them, for
> example one of them has kithcen items such as a plate, cup, spoon, fork,
> plastic fruit, box of cereal, box of triscuits, can of tuna, can of 
> veggies,
> hot cocoa mix (envelope), envelope of pop corn, etc.  The child is given a
> scenario and then is told to pick out some items from the container 
> without
> using their sight.  The other containers have such items as bathroom 
> items,
> toys, clothes, school supplies, and more.  The kids absolutely love the
> entire experience and now we can top it off with the helium balloons. 
> What
> kid doesn't like balloon?
>
> I am so excited and what a gorgeous day to be out and about.  Just had to
> share with all you our plans.
>
> Hope you all have a great day,
> Merry
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