[Nfbf-l] Fwd: 4th annual NFB Blind Community Picnic Jacksonville

Wed May 6 01:52:26 UTC 2009

Hello everyone
Last Saturday, May 2nd, the Jacksonville Chapter hosted our 4th annual Blind Community Picnic. Lenora Marten wrote a spectacular narrative with pictures included below. This picnic has become a much loved event for the blind community in Jacksonville. It is so great to hear how much people look forward to it. If you are looking for a way to attract membership, this is it. We gained two member from the last picnic. One couple who came last year recently started coming to our meetings, volunteered for the picnic and are coming to the convention. I had two people join while at the picnic. I received a phone from another two that want to join and are coming to our next meeting. Another call wanted to learn more about the chapter. One person, 
"This is great! What else does the NFB do?" Boy, can we show him. I know we have work to be done, but we have to make the NFB fun. 
Please read on for Lenora's highlights. 

Gina Minichiello, Board Member
National Federation of the Blind of Florida
Treasurer, Greater Jacksonville Chapter
minichiellog at comcast.net

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From: funchick at comcast.net
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Sent: Tue, 5 May 2009 01:18:06 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: 4th ANNUAL NFB BLIND COMMUNITY PICNIC HIGHLIGHTS

Good Morning All - 

Our 4th Annual NFB Blind Community Picnic was a resounding SUCCESS!!  Diane Sapiro and Joe Minichiello were there to greet and welcome 83 guests with smiles, hand shakes and even some hugs. 

Activities took off at 10:30 a.m.  with Eric and Patricia announcing Bingo to over 30 of our early morning guests in a nicely cooled activity room. Numbers and letters were called, prizes were given and FUN was had by all who participated. 

Jay and Joan did a stupendous job manning the snow cone machine. YUMMY! 

Robin......   dude.....  WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING???? I had no idea you could sing like that! Robin Plitt brought his guitar and sound equipment, serenading us with songs like Margaritaville. FABULOUS! 

New and old friends bonded under the clear blue Jacksonville sunshine. Children played in the grass. PERFECT! 

JEFF - Chefs on Food Network could take a lesson from you! YOU are the BBQ Master!! Chapter members, I simply cannot tell you how many positive comments we had about our marvelous, tasty food. Some of the comments were - "Best hamburgers I've ever tasted!", "I didn't know hot dogs could taste this good!", and many, many requests for seconds. 

Furthermore, our guests truly appreciated the extra time and care we took to wear gloves while serving. It's these extra touches that show the blind community that NFB Jacksonville Chapter simply......   CARES!! 

Afternoon Trivia had us racking our brains and competing for answers. Brandon, our Trivia announcer was AWESOME! Who knew that Canada's coast line was longer than ours??? 
The results of that question now give Eric Marten, youngest chapter member and brainiac in the making, the power to say "Told you So!" to his Dad. PRICELESS!! 

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the pre-planning, behind the scenes efforts of our picnic committee, their spouses and friends. Every time I looked around, I found Marita patiently helping someone with everything from drinks to giving directions, answering questions and most importantly, lending an ear. She and her husband Michael went above and beyond with a generous donation of table and chair rental in addition to organizing the kids games. Hats off to Jay for providing toys for the kids. Corey and Terry did a wonderful job securing the donation of six cases of bottled water from Costco, ten $20 gift cards from Woodchucks Country Store, and 12 hats from Atlas Lighting. Their friend Rob was there from beginning to end lending a hand at everything from running errands, patrolling garbage, and serving food. Don Adams donations of 100 hamburger buns, 100 hot dog buns and aluminum serving trays was greatly appreciated. Gina - organizer extraordinaire - booked the park, snow cone machine, prizes for kids, NFB banner & literature, bingo cards, coordinated Trivia  - the list is endless! Joe & Gina's neighbor, Andy Buist was also there from beginning to end making ice runs, helping with the serving line and transporting supplies. Andy Rood came early to lend support wherever needed. Larry & I did the pre-shopping pricing and then shopped at Sam's Club and Winn Dixie, chopped  lettuce, onion & tomato, transported and organized the food, helped with bingo, Trivia, serving & clean-up. 

Lenora 

Picnic Committee - 

Gina Minichiello 
Board Member NFBF 
Treasurer NFB-JAX 
Event Coordinator 
minichiellog at comcast.net 

Lenora Marten 
Secretary NFB-JAX 
Board Member NFBF-Parents 
bluegolfshoes at aol.com 

Marita Winston 
Board Member NFB-JAX 
maritawinston at bellsouth.net 

Corey Glassner 
cstlg at yahoo.com 

A Great Credit Score is 750 or Higher. See Your 3 CREDIT SCORES FREE - Online! 

A Great Credit Score is 750 or Higher. See Your 3 CREDIT SCORES FREE - Online!
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