[NFBF-Tampa] Tampa Bay Chapter Meeting Minutes August 2019

Wed Sep 18 22:07:19 UTC 2019

Hello to all chapter members and friends,

The Tampa Bay chapter August meeting minutes are pasted below my signature.
Please take a moment to read them so you are prepared to vote on their
approval at our next meeting, which will be held on Saturday, September 28,
at O’Brien’s Irish Pub and Grill, 701 W. Lumsden Road in Brandon. As usual,
we will have a meet and greet at 11:30, so we hope you will come early and
get to know everyone a little better
and so they can get to know you! As
usual, the meeting  is scheduled from 12:00 till 2:00.

You will find my phone number and email address below in my signature, just
in case you have a great suggestion or question. I would be very pleased to
hear from you.

Warmest regards

Sherrill

Sherrill O’Brien, Secretary

Tampa Bay Chapter

National Federation of the Blind of Florida

Phone 813-935-0474, cell 813-767-1890

email Sherrill.obrien at verizon.net

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise
expectations because low expectations create barriers between blind people
and our dreams. You can live the life you want! Blindness is not what holds
you bac

Tampa Bay Chapter         

National Federation of the Blind of Florida

Chapter Meeting Minutes

August 24, 2019

Beef O’Brady’s

8810  North Himes Avenue

Tampa, Florida

The meeting was called to order by Vice President Merry Schoch at 12:00PM.

She chaired the meeting due to the absence of President Miranda Kilby.

Merry told the group that Miranda is still not feeling well. Miranda wanted
the chapter to know she very much appreciated the beautiful flowers which we
sent her following our June meeting.

There were 13 persons in attendance, including Angie Chism’s daughter and
granddaughter. 

Marion led us in saying the NFB pledge.

Secretary and Treasurer’sReports

Sherrill thanked Dan for taking the June meeting minutes in her absence.

A motion was made by Sherrill, seconded by Barbara, to accept the June
meeting minutes as emailed. The motion passed.

Dan gave the treasurer’s report. Our June balance was $2,064.66, and Our
current balance is $1,964.65. Dan mentioned that we received three new
members at the June meeting: Linda Mumford, Joy Relton and Lynn Reynolds. 

A motion was made by Barbara, seconded by Marion, to approve the treasurer’s
report. The motion passed.

Old Business

Social Activities

Jeanette reported that since the members had expressed interest in attending
a comedy club outing, she sent out information via the Tampa email list
detailing a variety of comedy club acts available in the near future.
Following discussion, we decided to wait on this till the beginning of the
year, since transportation is a challenge for many.

Possible Location Change for Chapter Meetings

Merry mentioned that we have previously discussed the possibility of
changing the location of our chapter meetings to make them more centrally
located for all in Hillsborough County. She also mentioned that for some,
attending a monthly NFB chapter meeting, taking into account the cost of
transportation and food, poses a hardship. Merry reminded the group that
when we were unable to locate a more central meeting place, NFB member Debby
Hietala offered her business, Crystal Bay Café, downtown at the County
Courthouse. There would not be any food available, so Merry suggested we
could all pitch in and whoever wished to do so could contribute something to
eat or drink. She said she and Marion could provide a main dish.

Angie Chism mentioned that she is a member of a Moose lodge which is
centrally located on South Gandy Blvd., and that perhaps we should look into
holding our meetings there. She said the food is very reasonably priced. We
will check into this as another option.

After further discussion, it was determined that the membership would
eventually vote on this issue via email. We will make sure all who wish are
subscribed to the Tampa chapter list prior to taking such a vote. We will be
sure to include the wording that if such a change does not work out, we can
go back to our present arrangement.

Barbara made the suggestion that we go to the Crystal Bay Café and try it
out prior to a vote being taken. It was agreed that would be a good idea.

Merry said she had spoken with HART officials concerning transportation to
our meetings, and hopes they will come through and provide transportation
from Sun City Center. Marion also plans to reach out to the Sun City Lions
Club to see if they might help with transportation.

Membership

Merry pointed out that with our chapter now having over fifty members,
membership chair Sherrill O’Brien could use some help reaching out to all
these people every month. Sherrill will ask a couple of volunteers to help
her with calling our members.

Meet the Blind Month and White Cane Safety Day

Marion reported that there is a large food truck rally on November 6 in
Gaslight Park in downtown Tampa. He feels that would be a good venue for us
to hold a Meet the Blind event since it naturally draws a lot of people.
Tampa ADA coordinator Raquel pancho likes the idea, and thinks we might be
able to get the mayor or other dignitaries to be involved with our event if
it is held in conjunction with the downtown rally. 
A motion was made by Sherrill, seconded by Marion, that we hold our Meet the
Blind event at Gaslight Park in conjunction with the food truck rally on
November 6. The motion passed.

Barbara mentioned that particularly because of having to deal with high heat
and humidity during our outdoor events, it would be a good idea for the
chapter to have our own pop-up tent. Following discussion,   a motion was
made by Barbara, seconded by Sherrill, that the chapter purchase a pop-up
tent. The motion passed.

We discussed at length the best place and time to hold our White Cane Safety
Day street crossing event. A motion was made by Barbara, seconded by
Jeanette, that we hold our White Cane Safety Day event  from 10:00 A.M. till
11:30A.M., on our regular meeting date, October 26, at Spruce and Dale
mabry, and then have lunch at Denny’s. The motion passed. Note that this is
the same place we held our event last year.

New Business

We decided to go ahead and hold our November meeting on the regular fourth
Saturday, the 23rd. 

Merry will ask Yvonne Rosanelli if she is still interested in hosting our
holiday party, as she had indicated previously.

Sherrill won the 50/50 raffle drawing, receiving twelve dollars.

NFBF State Fundraiser

Merry reported that we will once again be holding our annual state
fundraiser, the Holiday Calendar Raffle. As introductions were made, those
wishing to participate in the raffle indicated how many books of tickets
they wanted to sell. Tickets are again five dollars apiece, and there will
be a name drawn each evening during November. As was the case last year, the
grand prize will be drawn on Thanksgiving, and the chapter selling the
winning ticket will be a winner as well.

Our next meeting will be held on September 28 at O’Brien’s pub in Brandon.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted

Sherrill O’Brien, Secretary

Tampa Bay Chapter

National Federation of the Blind of Florida

Phone 813-935-0474, cell 813-767-1890

email Sherrill.obrien at verizon.net

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise
expectations because low expectations create barriers between blind people
and our dreams. You can live the life you want! Blindness is not what holds
you bac

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