[NFBMI-Talk] president's message concerning membership status and Michigan At Large chapter

Sat Jun 19 18:35:53 UTC 2021

Pat, thanks for the invite but I will be traveling to MS to visit family. I will enjoy and love to be a member of the Seniors. How do I sign up? Blessings to you and family!

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMI-Talk <nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Patricia Pyle via NFBMI-Talk
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2021 1:24 PM
To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Patricia Pyle <patriciajpyle11 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBMI-Talk] president's message concerning membership status and Michigan At Large chapter

Hello Fred,
We would love to have you join the BMISAFS / Blind Michigan Seniors Advocating for Seniors.  Our next meeting will be June 28 at 8 PM.  We meet the 4th Monday of the month at 8 PM.  Mike has sent you the link to NFB I-talk and when tou sign up - you’ll receive notifications for our meetings.
If you have questions - please let me know. My cell number is 989-330-0753.

Hope to see you soon in ZOOM.
Pat Pyle

On Mon, May 24, 2021 at 8:51 PM Alfred Morgan via NFBMI-Talk < nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hello Mike, pray all is well with you and family. I want to be member 
> of the at large and senior chapters. Also, do you know of a member 
> that uses JAWS?
> I need to know a few things about the software. You may share my email 
> with them. Thanks and I will be waiting for the joining the chapters 
> information.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBMI-Talk <nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Michael 
> Powell via NFBMI-Talk
> Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2021 4:38 PM
> To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: mpowell7583 at yahoo.com
> Subject: [NFBMI-Talk] president's message concerning membership status 
> and Michigan At Large chapter
>
> Greetings federation family.  I hope this finds all of you well this 
> spring as we prepare to move into summer and begin another convention 
> season.  As we find ourselves preparing to move into active life again 
> as covid shows signs of decline and many of us have been vaccinated, 
> time is growing short to register for our national convention and we 
> want all to attend.  It is once again a virtual event open to all and 
> it is free.  You do not have to leave home to participate in it and as 
> many of us found last year there are a wide range of activities and programs you can enjoy and experience.
> This year national convention attendees will once again be able to 
> vote on resolutions and any other items that will be put to a vote by 
> the membership.  To vote our national office must know that your dues 
> to either your local chapter or state division have been paid so you 
> can be considered an active member who is eligible to vote.
>
> Registration closes May 31, 2021.    So, your dues must be up to date if
> you
> wish to vote at the national convention.  As a few of our chapters in 
> our affiliate have not met in quite some time their members have not 
> been able to remain active and paid up as far as their dues are 
> concerned.  We want to afford anyone who wishes to vote at the 
> convention the opportunity to bring your dues up to date and become 
> active members of the NFB of Michigan so you can continue to be a part 
> of us and the work we need to do together.  This is especially true if 
> you live where there is no chapter of the federation near you or the 
> chapter you were a part of has not held monthly meetings for
> quite some time and therefore has been inactive and nonfunctional.    Since
> the Zoom platform has made it possible for meetings to continue at the 
> national and state level, and since some of our chapters have been 
> using Zoom to meet regularly through 2020 and 2021, we would like to 
> reestablish our at large chapter of the National Federation of the 
> Blind of Michigan so all of us who have been members of the NFB of 
> Michigan can remain active and
> stay connected to each other.   Those who live where there is no NFB
> chapter
> near them need to be able to join our affiliate.
>
>      State board member Robert Parsons has put out the call to 
> organize this chapter, so we need to get it functioning especially for 
> those who have not paid dues to any chapter or division since early in 
> 2020 or before.  You must be an active member to vote on resolutions 
> or any other items put up to a vote during the national virtual 
> convention.  Once our state convention can be held as a live event 
> that we can all attend personally, you would also need to be current 
> in your state dues to vote, run for office, speak, and be recognized 
> at meetings.  You should know if you have not been to a chapter 
> meeting for some time or if your local chapter has not been holding
> regular meetings.    These are the chapters that have been meeting
> regularly
> who are considered current and active.  They are the Detroit Chapter, 
> Capital Region Chapter, Wayne County Chapter, Jackson Chapter, 
> Kalamazoo Chapter, our new Michigan Blind Seniors Division  and our 
> Michigan Association of Blind Students.
>
> This in no way is meant to single out any of our members who worked as 
> leaders in the chapters not listed above.  It is a fact of life that 
> we have not had enough people in certain parts of the state who were 
> able to take on leadership responsibilities to keep activity going and 
> generate interest where there has been declining attendance and little 
> participation.  While we all want to remain committed to the 
> federation there are health, transportation, and other life issues 
> that have had an impact on some of our chapters.  Some of our leaders 
> have been running things in their respective chapters for a long time 
> and they want to remain as active members without having to hold an 
> office and manage the business of running the
> organization.       The shutdown of public activities due to the pandemic
> has also exacerbated the situation not only here in Michigan but 
> throughout the country as well.
>
> Our Nfbmi.org website will soon have a form where you can register to 
> become a member of the At Large chapter of the National Federation of 
> the Blind of Michigan.  The dues will be $6.
>
> In the early part of June our national office will send me a list of 
> all who registered for the convention by May 31 so I can make any 
> corrections before
> they finalize the registration results.    You can do your part, if you
> want
> to vote at our national convention, by signing up for our at large chapter
> as soon as you can so your dues will be up to date.     Being unable to
> vote
> will not keep you from participating in the convention but it will 
> limit your ability to vote on resolutions and elect members of our 
> national board of directors who will be up for reelection this year.
>
> I believe that putting work into developing this at large chapter will 
> open the way for our Michigan affiliate to grow in new ways.  Using 
> the Zoom platform for our at large chapter will make it possible for 
> people who have always wanted to be part of us to join us without 
> restrictions of distance and transportation holding them back.  As we 
> find that we are developing members who live in a particular part of 
> the state these groups will be able to branch out and form new 
> chapters that will have leaders and members who have a firm foundation 
> in federation philosophy as a result of their experience with the at 
> large chapter.  They will also be able to promote events and new 
> venues and hotels to hold state conventions in the places where they 
> live that have never hosted our federation before.
>
>
>
> All of what I have outlined for you is in keeping with the national 
> membership policy I read to you at our March 6 state board meeting.  
> Our national organization along with our national and state divisions, 
> affiliates and local chapters are all working together to build the 
> federation and create new possibilities and greater opportunities for all
> blind people to live the lives we want.   Let us do all that we can as
> proud
> active members of our Michigan affiliate to be a part of that process.
>
> Michael Powell, President
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
>
> (586)754-1325
>
> Mpowell7583 at yahoo.com <mailto:Mpowell7583 at yahoo.com>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NFBMI-Talk mailing list
> NFBMI-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> NFBMI-Talk:
>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/morganalfredlj
> r%40gm
> ail.com
> <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/morganalfredl
> jr%40gmail.com>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NFBMI-Talk mailing list
> NFBMI-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> NFBMI-Talk:
>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/patriciajpyle1
> 1%40gmail.com
>
_______________________________________________
NFBMI-Talk mailing list
NFBMI-Talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NFBMI-Talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/morganalfredljr%40gmail.com