[Nfbf-l] Blind Driver Challenge and Washington Seminar

[Dan Hicks]

Fellow Florida Federation members,

 

We are barely into February of the new year and already Florida NFB members
have been involved in two important NFB events. 

 

Our state played host to the Blind Driver Challenge in Daytona Beach.
President Maurer said that the NFB had 360 people using hotel rooms. Our
affiliate bought a total of 117 tickets for the event, and a few people
bought their own ticket. Say about 120 attendees were from the NFBF. But,
about 55 of our people did not use rooms in the three contracted hotels, so
that 360 becomes 415 total attendees, and 120 were our people, or about two
out of every seven. 

 

Florida was also well-represented at the Washington Seminar. We had about 15
people out of the 500 or so from around the country. We were all fortunate
we did not get snowed in. Dwight Sayer was unable to go, because he caught
some bug in Jamaica the week before. I come back from DC with a cold and
laryngitis. 

 

Because Washington Seminars have to be scheduled months in advance, and this
turned out to be Constituents Week - when the members of the House of
Representatives are not in DC, but visiting their home districts - we saw
few House members. However, the Legislative Assistants and other staffers in
the offices of the members seemed, for the most part, attentive and
impressed with our presentation of our issues. 

 

Thank you to all of you who attended these events. You and your
participation made them happen. Thanks to those who made the appointments in
Washington, DC. Thanks to Denise Valkema, who helped keep track of and
coordinate appointments, and to Joe Minichiello, who took over for me when
Gloria's and my flights were cancelled and we arrived in DC several hours
later than we had expected. A special thank you to Gloria, our treasurer,
who put in many hours dealing with hotels and ticket vendors and distributed
tickets and paid bills. 

 

Thanks to all of you for making the Florida affiliate the best in the NFB!

 

Dan Hicks

  

 

"To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily.  

Not to dare is to lose oneself." 
                 - Soren Kierkegaard