[Nfbf-l] Washington Seminar 2014 memories

[Joe Naulty]

Denise    We want to thank you for the detailed report.
It was wonderful to hear of your meetings and the
progress made for the State of Florida.  We have been
to the Washington Seminar in years past...and we know
how much hard work it is.. both from the planning stages to execution in 
making all the meetings on a timely basis.

Dan and Gloria Hicks always do a great job in getting
everyone to assigned meetings.   The team leaders were
so effective in getting the "message out there"

It was truly a team effort.  Special thanks to everyone.

We are proud to be a part of the effort to change what
it means to be blind.  AND value our membership
in the National Federation of the Blind of Florida.

Thanks to all
Joe and Arlene Naulty
West Melbourne, Florida

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Denise Valkema" <valkemadenise at aol.com>
To: "NFBF" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2014 10:53 AM
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Washington Seminar 2014 memories


> We had four teams at Washington seminar. I was the leader for the South 
> Florida team. Leonardo Banes and Tekesha Saffold were a part of this team. 
> We worked well together and all went smoothly. Tekesha presented the TEACH 
> act which was best for her as a student and scholarship winner. Leonardo 
> presented the Air carrier access act and I spoke on the Fair a Wages act.
>
> We met with my congressman, Joe Garcia, and Congresswoman Ileana 
> Ros-Lehtinen. She gave us Cuban coffee, took time to know us personally, 
> and took a photo with us. We did not meet with Tekesha's congressman, 
> Alcee Hastings personally but three staffers. He had already signed on to 
> fair wages and HR 164. I will let Tekesha share more. We met with staff in 
> CongressmanDeutch's office who was glad to meet constituent Leonardo. He 
> can chime in. We met with staff in offices of Diaz-Balart, Lois Frankel, 
> and Murphy. We dropped off a packet to the offices of Schultz, Rooney, and 
> Wilson.
>
> We had the great gathering in from 5:00pm-7:30pm where national gave us 
> updates, heard from guest congressman,and  given facts on issues we were 
> bringing to members on the hill. We met in Preaident Hicks room to cover 
> logistics including making sure appointments were covered. Tuesday, the 
> South Florida team left hotel at 8:30 and returned around 4:30, and we had 
> another gathering in at 6pm. We had dinner with most that came from 
> Florida and shared how well things went. Wednesday, south Florida team 
> left hotel at 9:00 and returned around 12:30pm. We had to prepare to fly 
> home.
>
> It was cold and hotel was behind on renovations so we had challenges to 
> overcome but we handled it. Some had to reschedule flights due to weather 
> on the return home.
>
> We have a state legislative committee and like each chapter to be 
> represented so information can be shared and accomplished in each chapter. 
> These meetings will be announced to leaders and if you are interested, let 
> your president know. The work has just begun.
>
> The central team was Sherri Brun and Cindy Bishop. North Florida team was 
> Lenora Marten, Johnnie Slaton, and Denyece Roberts. The West team was 
> Gloria and Dan Hicks, Miranda Kilby, and Paul Martinez. Go Florida! You 
> made this 2014 Washington Seminar the best! Feel free to share your 
> experiences.
>
> Sincerely, Denise Valkema
> NFBF Legislative Chairperson by iPhone
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