[nfbmi-talk] Fw: FYI, Kalamazoo Gazette photo gallery of MCB Training Center Open House held Monday, June 4

Wed Jun 6 00:33:17 UTC 2012

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/06/kalamazoo_center_for_the_blind.html

Michigan Commission for the Blind shows off new facilities in grand re-opening (with photo gallery)

Photo: Aaron Mueller

By Aaron MuellerThe Kalamazoo Gazette

Published: Monday, June 04, 2012, 8:34 PM     Updated: Monday, June 04, 2012, 8:43 PM

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Students led tours of the newly renovated Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center on Monday.

The facility underwent a year-long, $3.5 million renovation that includes a new, state-of-the-art technology center, and the completion was celebrated with a three-hour long open house that included food, music and demonstrations.

The Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center open house gallery (19 photos)

Photo: Mark Bugnaski

All photos by Mark Bugnaski | MLive.com, The Kalamazoo Gazette 

[photo description] A small child holds his white cane as a woman’s hand rests lightly on his head.  The child faces upward, appearing to be listening intently to a tall person not shown in the photo.  

Caption: Aaron Dare, 6, of Portage explores the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center during the open house Monday, June 4, 2012. 

Sidewalk and main entrance to the MCB Training Center.

Caption: The Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center at 1541 Oakland Drive hosted an open house Monday, June 4, 2012.

A man with a white cane and a service dog stands in a brightly-lit hallway, as another man with a white cane and a woman lean down to pet and admire the dog. 

Caption: People tour the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center at 1541 Oakland Drive during the open house.

Looking outward from behind the reception desk, the receptionist’s computer screen shows bright yellow tulips against a blue sky.  A cluster of pastel balloons decorate the lobby, where a group of visitors stand and talk inside the main entrance.

Caption: The renovations for the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center include a new reception office at the main entrance.

Two women sit in front of a computer below a very large wall poster of a color-coded computer keyboard and two hands with corresponding color-coded fingers.

Caption:  Amber Willard, a rehabilitation instructor, left, works with Courtney McHaffy in the computer lab at the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center. After a year-long, $3.5 million renovations including a state-of-the-art technology center. 

A young man holding a white cane smiles and appears to be laughing as he speaks.  On the wall behind him, large Braille dots spell the word “Braille.”

Caption:  Daniel Garcia, a recent student giving a tour of the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center.

A man communicates with a woman using tactile sign language, with her hands resting lightly on his hands as he signs.

Caption: Interpreter Dan Meginley, left, tactile signs with braille teacher Marge Spencer during the opening house at the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center, June 4, 2012.

A man holding a white cane stands facing a woman who appears to be laughing as an interpreter communicates with her using tactile sign language.

Caption: Interpreter Dan Meginley, left, tactile signs with braille teacher Marge Spencer during the opening house at the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center, June 4, 2012.

Two women holding white canes (one of them MCB Training Center Director Christine Boone), stand with several other people chatting in the hallway in front of the open door to the wood shop.  

Caption: People tour the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center at 1541 Oakland Drive during the open house.

A woman seated at a table feeds a sheet of paper into a Perkins brailler.  The woman standing beside her leans on her white cane and appears to be listening intently.

Caption:  Sherry Pelmear, left and Carolyn Carr use a Perkins Braille writer at the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center during the open house Monday, June 4, 2012.

Two women holding white canes smile, as three people holding white canes stand in the background.

Caption: Christine Harwood of Allegan and Laurie Klocke of East Lansing during the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center open house Monday, June 4, 2012.

Large letters above the cafeteria counter spell “Out of Sight Café.”  With a buffet table in the foreground and the kitchen in the background, four women with white canes carrying various things move in four different directions, each appearing to be intent on her own task.

Caption: The Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center  at 1541 Oakland Drive hosted an open house Monday, June 4, 2012. This is the “grand re-opening” of the training center after a year-long, $3.5 million renovation.

With two people at the buffet line in the foreground, a crowd of people seated at tables and standing in small groups talking fill the cafeteria to capacity.

Caption: Guest attending a reception at the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center during the open house. The Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center held a grand re-opening for the training center after a year-long, $3.5 million renovation.

Two men stand talking in a brightly-lit hallway.  Their out-of-focus images in the foreground frame the distant clear image of several people with white canes and a service dog, all walking toward a glass wall at the end of the hallway that looks out onto the courtyard. 

Caption:  People tour the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center at 1541 Oakland Drive during the open house.

Closeup head-and-shoulders view of a group of people seated at long tables, with some people holding their white canes upright.

Caption: The Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center held an open house to celebrate the renovations.

Several MCB Training Center students and staff who are members of the MCB Chorale, holding U.S. flags as they prepare to sing the national anthem.

Caption:  Some faculty and students sang for the guest during the open house reception at the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center.

MCB Director Pat Cannon seated beside the podium holding his cane, smiling perhaps in anticipation of the upcoming performance by the MCB Chorale, shown in the background holding U.S. flags.

Caption: Patrick D. Cannon, director of the Michigan Commission for the Blind during the training center open house.

View of a sunny, unoccupied student room at the MCB Training Center, showing a bed, desk, phone, lamp, chair, and wardrobe closet with drawers.

Caption: The Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center at 1541 Oakland Drive hosted an open house for the renovation, including the student dorms.

Three men, one holding a white cane, stand in front of a wall under a sign that says “thank you” in large capital letters.

Caption:  Guest attending a reception at the Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center during the open house. The Michigan Commission for the Blind Training Center held a “grand re-opening” for the training center after a year-long, $3.5 million renovation.

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