<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Fellow Federationists and Friends,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">In the first 50th Anniversary letter we
sent out earlier this year, we included an article about how the National
Federation of the Blind of Nebraska was Affiliated in 1971. We also included a
short biography of our first president, Richard “Dick” Parker. If you missed
that letter, you can check it out on our website, <a href="http://ne.nfb.org">http://ne.nfb.org</a>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">For this edition, we want to concentrate
on some of the achievements of the Federation in Nebraska. While the efforts, persistence,
and determination of the Nebraska affiliate have accomplished much over the
years to improve the lives of blind people both here and beyond, we have been
challenged when it comes to keeping a searchable archive. In lieu of articles
about specific events, I would like to share with you an article from News from
Blind Nebraskans’ 1995 Winter Edition. It was written by Lauren Eckery (now Merryfield),
and tells some of the history of the first 25 years of our reorganized Organization.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Next time we will bring the story of the
NFB of Nebraska from 1995 to the present day, recounting some of our more recent
struggles and accomplishments.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt">Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration Report</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt">National Federation Of The Blind Of Nebraska</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:12pt">By Lauren L. Eckery</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">When I was young, I disliked history
with a passion. I thought "What
does that have to do with me? I wasn't
even there." I complained about
having to learn all about "barbaric men who went around killing people and
everyone cheered. How stupid!" My teachers did not like this attitude, but I
held to it for many years. As an adult,
I found, much to my surprise, that history in specific areas of my interest
seemed quite fascinating. Music history,
social work history, and, of course, our NFB history, all seemed not only
interesting but also broadened my understanding in these courses of study. I hope that those of you who have come into
the NFB in the 1980's or 1990's will stay in the room to experience with us
some of our memories, tears and laughter, which we are so eager to share with
you now. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">When several of us were growing up, we
attended the Nebraska School for the Blind which was later regressively renamed
the Nebraska School for the Visually Handicapped. The "Civil War" (between the NFB
and the ACB) was going on in the early 1960's when some of us were children. We heard little about organizations of the
blind, but some of us do remember hearing that the name Jernigan was something
to fear. The National Federation of the
Blind was seen as "elitist" (that was not the term the adults used,
but we got the gist). We were
predisposed to American Council of the Blind-type thinking which, in essence,
was something like: "watch out for those Iowa people! They're a bunch of
radical blind people who went blind later in life. They know nothing about how congenitally
blind adults can function. Being totally
blind from birth means that you cannot expect to be as competent as these NFB
people say. They're filling your minds
with false hopes and you'll only stumble and fall someday, trying to do more
than you can do." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">When we graduated from high school and
attended the alumni organization, and when we met other blind adults who had
not attended NSVH, this NFB-phobia continued.
No one seemed to have concrete reasons or answers for us. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">When the Nebraska Association of Workers
for the Blind chose to affiliate with the American Council of the Blind, we
were sucked in. Later on, in the 1970's,
we realized what had happened. Hank
Vetter and I made and seconded a motion to disaffiliate with the ACB and to
become, once again, an alumni organization of NSVH. Fortunately, this was accomplished. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Sometimes I wonder how it might have
been if there had been an active NFB chapter at the school, preparing us to be
and do our very best. Might we have been
more confident and fulfilled if this had been so? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">It wasn't until we were young adults
that we realized we had been betrayed into accepting less for ourselves and
other blind persons--children and adults.
I hope that blind children today who already know who they are in the
NFB might realize the blessing they have been given. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Thinking further, perhaps being
predisposed to mistrust the Federation, coupled with receiving shabby services
from Nebraska Services for the Visually Impaired, under the direction of Dean
McDermott, helped to light the spark of anger within us which made us stop and
think. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">We had experienced the humiliation of
the "nuts and bolts" routine at SVI.
We were assigned to counselors who didn't know the difference between
prerecorded tapes, blank tapes and empty reels for tape. Furthermore, these counselors thought
Braillers went to be fixed in Watertown, Pennsylvania rather than
Massachusetts. Some of us at the
University had a counselor named Payne and he certainly was one. (Up to that time, the only Payne we had heard
about was Thomas Payne who wrote "Common Sense.") It seemed that we
were not exposed to much of that at SVI.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">We decided to find out what these people
from Iowa had to say. They seemed to
have a much better vision of a brighter future for us and other blind people. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">It was in this transitional stage that
we realized that ACB-minded persons could not, and did not, deliver. It was when we still feared the NFB, that
some of us were approached by the right people--and they happened to be from
Iowa! </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Though I am no longer as young as I was
when I joined the Federation in 1975, it is that youthfulness of spirit that
keeps me going. This is what keeps our Federation going also. I am, like many others, proud to have been
there near our beginning, and I am still proud to be a staunch Federationist in
1995. Many of our founders, as you will
notice, were there in the beginning but have since left us (in the physical
sense). Congratulations to all of us who
were there then and are still here now! </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Reorganizing of the National Federation
of the Blind of Nebraska began in 1970.
Federationists such as Mary Ellen Anderson (now Mrs. Jernigan), Arleen
Gashel (now Arleen Hill), Ruth Ireland (mother of Ramona Walhof, Susan Ford and
Curtis Willoughby), Jim and Sharon Omvig and Kenneth Jernigan himself, took on
the task of finding us and bringing us together to reorganize the NFB of
Nebraska. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Personally, I remember visits by Mary
Ellen Anderson and Arleen Gashel as they answered a zillion questions which
Barbara and I had when we were students at the University of Nebraska at
Lincoln. We knew very little about either alternative techniques for
independent living or the social and political barriers to be surmounted in the
predominantly sighted world out there.
We were given so much hope and we were assured that we, seemingly
insignificant Laurie and Barbara Beach, could be very helpful in the cause for
our security, equality and opportunity. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Some of us did not join the NFB at it's
first meeting. We had much to think about and we read the NFB literature given
to us, including a subscription to the Braille Monitor. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Let me digress a bit to tell you how I
obtained the extremely important information about the reorganizing of our
state affiliate. When I was asked to
make this presentation, I searched my own memories and came up rather
short. In contacting Barbara Walker, I
was reminded of the article written by Mary Ellen Anderson which appeared in
the April, 1971, edition of the Braille Monitor. Neither of us had easy access to the
information contained in that article.
Subsequently, I asked John Klingman to call the National office during
the daytime since I cannot make long-distance phone calls from work. He did this and received the valuable
information from none other than our Aloma Bouma. It is this type of love, trust and
communication that has kept the NFB going in the past which will continue into
the future. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">[Editor's note: The article by Mary Ellen Anderson will be
reprinted in the next issue due to space considerations.]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Here is the rest of the interesting information
which I knew at one time but had somewhat forgotten. We reorganized in Omaha on January 31st,
1971, with 198 members from five chapters--Tri-County (now Omaha), Lincoln,
Grand Island, Adams County (Hastings) and the Great Plains Chapter (North
Platte area). The officers were: President, Richard Parker, Omaha; First
Vice-President, John Smith, Lincoln; Second Vice-President, Jack Swagart,
Omaha; Secretary, Mrs. Melvon Ireland, Lincoln; Treasurer, Dick Gulizia, Omaha. The four board members were: Dick Zlab, Omaha; Stan Yank, Omaha; Ralph
Doud, Grand Island and Larry Wallace, North Platte. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The goals of the affiliate were: 1:
removal of the lien law; (according to Hank Vetter who was at the
meeting in 1971, blind persons who owned property but were on public
assistance, could, without notice, have a lien put on their property, finding
it sold right out from under them to the county.) 2:
passage of a Model White Cane Law; and 3: passage of a Little Randolph-Sheppard Act in
Nebraska. Since the time of
reorganization, the first two of these goals have been accomplished! We tried
numerous times to get a Little Randolph-Sheppard Act passed in Nebraska only to
meet opposition from Dr. Nyman, the new director of SVI and blind vendors
themselves. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">I was among many others who came into
the NFB in 1975, shortly after Dr. James Nyman became Director of the Nebraska
Services for the Visually Impaired. At
that time, Dr. Nyman gave some of his staff the opportunity to choose an agency
for the blind to visit. Barbara Beach
(now Walker) was on the SVI staff and made a trip to the Iowa Commission for
the Blind. She carried with her many
more of the questions she and I had.
Every single question raised at that time was answered in a most
remarkable and reasonable fashion by Dr. Jernigan and his staff, and we joined
the Lincoln chapter in January of 1975.
With so many of us coming in to the NFB at this time, as eager
Federationists, we suddenly became a most exuberant and powerful state
affiliate, with Dick Parker as its state President. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">On May 15th, 1976, at our fifth annual
convention, the slate of officers changed dramatically: President, Barbara Beach; First vp, Richard
Parker; Second vp, Richard Zlab; Secretary, Laurie Beach Eckery; Treasurer, William
Pfeiffer. Board members were: Marsha Bangert, Doran Oltman, John Cheadle
and Ralph Doud. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Our concerns and accomplishments at this
time and into the future included, but were not limited to: 1:
attempting to administratively transfer the Library for the Blind to the
Services for the Visually Impaired; (At that time, Mr. Cylke was not our
friend--what changes have come about since then, nationally.); 2: becoming incorporated; 3: the participation, by some of us, in the
White House Conference On Handicapped Individuals, which we renamed the
"outhouse conference" for its failure to include disabled persons in
all aspects of its functioning; 4:
continuing to interact with Radio Talking Book in its growth and
expansion; 5: the ongoing process of working
with parents of blind children, towards achieving equal education and
integration of blind children into society as first-class young citizens;
6: working with the Nebraska School for
the Visually Handicapped, under the direction of Superintendent Jerry Regler,
to bring about the learning of Braille, cane travel and the use of power
equipment in the woodworking shop for all students whose only disability was
blindness; 7: the case of Laurie Eckery
versus Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital, an eleven-year process beginning in
1977 as she was told: "We don't
have any openings down here and even if we did, there is nothing down here that
you could do." This case was
botched by the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission,Larry Myers, Director;
taken to the Office for Civil Rights, assisted by John Halverson and finally
settled with the assistance of our own current National President, Attorney
Marc Maurer; 8: Gary Doty's case against
the Roller Rink in Lincoln and the right of the blind to skate using a long
white cane; 9: the right of blind
Nebraskans to bring into the voting booth, the person of our choice to mark our
ballots, with Dr. Nyman's memorable testimony; 10: the right of the blind of Nebraska to equal
access to insurance being neither excluded nor charged extra, championed by Jim
Walker; 11: the airlines struggles of
many of us, locally and nationally, resulting in testimonies, letters, and
vigilance through a most controversial era; 12:
working to protect and improve public transportation; dealing with
budget cuts and bureaucracy which were usually not in our favor; 13: the right of blind Nebraskans to equal
housing, which came after the passage of our White Cane Law; 14: the right of the blind of Nebraska to equal
employment, including the removal of blindness-related questions on state job
applications, steered by Marsha Bangert; 15:
our efforts to have a positive influence on the direction of services
from our rehabilitation agency with much debate on the Advisory Committee to
SVI; 16: the need to swallow our joy in
a blossoming rehabilitation center which suddenly reversed its progress;
17: continuous fund-raising, with such
memorable items as pocket pals, (calendars) brief cases and tote bags, gigantic
wooden NFB mug racks, the proceeds from several walk-a-thons and that most
delicious Ludwig candy! Remember that? (Some of our money raised funded such
projects as: NAC-tracking, Washington
Seminars and assistance to State and National conventions.) 18:
our constant task of educating ourselves through seminars, reading NFB
literature etc.; 19: educating the
public through producing public service announcements such as those done by
Jerry Eckery, handing out literature, speaking in schools and anywhere else we
could get in, writing oodles of letters and newspaper articles, (including
those in our state newsletter); and, most of all, 20: spreading the word through our own individual
everyday life achievements which are part of the fabric of our continuing
emergence into first-class citizenship. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">We began a state newsletter around the
mid-1970's with Barbara Cheadle as its editor.
The officers at the time of our first publication were: President, Ralph Doud; First-VP, Karen
Woodford; Second-VP, Dick Gulizia; Secretary, Barbara Parker; Treasurer, William
Pfeiffer and board members: Richard
Zlab, James Radcliffe, Barbara Beach and Betty Hoffman. I became its editor in 1981 with a new name,
coined by Dick Zlab, "News From Blind Nebraskans," which has NFBN in
its name. Articles from many of our contributors
have since appeared in the Braille Monitor, Future Reflections and other
publications of the National Federation of the Blind. Our newsletter is sent
throughout the country. News From Blind
Nebraskans is currently being edited by Evelyn Haines, with assistance from
Hubert Paulson, Cheryl Livingston and others who were with us as production
assistants for many years. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">We have seen excellent Federationists
who got their NFB roots, or continued growing them, while in Nebraska, only to
go on to bigger and better things--those such as John and Barbara Cheadle,
David and Debbie Robinson, Fred and Cathy Schroeder,Fred and Mary Wurtzel,
Rosemary Lerdahl, Chris Roberts Boone, Aloma Bouma, Ellen Waechtler, and others
far too numerous to mention. You know
who they are. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">During this time, we developed and
presented four awards to those who have contributed outstandingly, beyond
measure, to our cause. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The Richard Parker Memorial Award goes
to a Federationist. Dick Parker was its first recipient (before it was a
memorial award), followed by Mary Handley (now Doty), Jim Walker, and Barbara
Walker.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The Duke Snyder Award goes to a state
legislator. After Senator Snyder, Senator Gerald Koch received this award. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">The Marsha Bangert-Williamson Memorial
Award goes to a media person. Cindy Wanek of Channel Ten/Eleven KOLN/KGIN in
Lincoln received this award. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">And, finally, the James D. Walker
Memorial Award goes to someone in the public at large. American Charter, in
Lincoln, received this award. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">We have lost some of our leaders in the
past few years, in the physical sense, including: Richard Parker, Ralph Doud, Marsha
Bangert-Williamson, and James Walker, to name some. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Dick Parker led us in a tireless, often
flamboyant and controversial manner. You
didn't want to mess with Dick, and the public HAD to listen! </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Marsha Bangert-Williamson led us in a
quiet, determined, purposeful resolve as did Barbara Walker. She kept her sense of humor, too. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Jim Walker, like Barbara, served as
staff member to SVI and state President simultaneously, maintaining his
position as a steadfast Federationist.
He was straight-forward, often controversial in his dealings and was
never in a popularity contest. Equality
of the blind was one of the ideas uppermost in his mind, with his family, his
job and his Federation work. Dr.
Jernigan, in his August, 1989, Braille Monitor article, characterized Jim as
follows:"As I think of Jim Walker, certain characteristics predominate to
form the image. Above all, he had integrity
and loyalty. When integrity and
diplomacy clashed, he always chose integrity.
When he had to decide between loyalty and expediency, there was no
question. It was loyalty." Dr. Jernigan also described Jim's wife,
Barbara, in these words:"If you had to characterize Barbara in a single
sentence you would probably say something like this. "She was a person of quiet strength and
deep sincerity." </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">In our culture, we are usually not
encouraged to like our in-laws, but Jim was probably more like me than anyone I
have ever known. To me, he was not just
a brother-in-law, but truly a brother. He is the brother of all of us. This "siblingship" in the National
Federation of the Blind, is what brought about our national founding in 1940,
led by Jacobus tenBroek; continued by Kenneth Jernigan, and further continued
by Marc Maurer. It is this kinship and
common purpose that brought about the reorganizing of our affiliate. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">We are grateful to our current
leadership in our state President, Della Johnston, and in our chapter
Presidents, Nancy Oltman, Adams County; Norma Groff, Great Plains; Ardyce Earl,
Grand Island; Dave Hunt, Lincoln and Larry Streeter, Omaha. But most of all, it is the commitment of each
individual member who is willing to be an active leader and/or follower </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt"> </span></p><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska</div><div>Phone: 402-477-7711</div><div>Email: <a href="mailto:info@ne.nfb.org" target="_blank">info@ne.nfb.org</a></div><div>Web: <a href="http://www.ne.nfb.org" target="_blank">http://www.ne.nfb.org</a></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">Facebook: <a href="https://facebook.com/nebraskasblind" target="_blank">https://facebook.com/nebraskasblind</a></span><br></div><div>Twitter: @nfbn</div><div><br></div><div><p><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%">The National Federation
of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or
your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low
expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live
the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. </span></p></div></div></div></div>