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Guide Dog users’ Meeting, Streaming, Relieving, and More!<br><br>
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Whether you will be attending the meetings of the National Association of
Guide dog Users (NAGDU) in person or virtually, there is information
within this message you will want to read. First of all, if you are not a
member of NAGDU, either by virtue of your membership in a NAGDU affiliate
division or by your direct affiliation, we would like to encourage you to
join. If you are a member of an affiliate in which there is a NAGDU
division, we strongly recommend you join the affiliate division, since
joining that division confers upon you all the rights and privileges of
membership in NAGDU. We currently have affiliate divisions in California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. We are also actively
organizing affiliate divisions in Arizona, Kentucky, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Texas, and Washington. If you need contact information for one
of these affiliate divisions, please send a message to<br><br>
<br><br>
<a href="mailto:Info@NAGDU.ORG">Info@NAGDU.ORG</a><br><br>
<br><br>
If you will be attending convention, you can join NAGDU prior to one of
our meetings (see below for meeting details). If you will not be
attending our convention, you can join by visiting our website <br><br>
<br><br>
<a href="http://nagdu.org/membership.html">
http://nagdu.org/membership.html</a><br><br>
<br><br>
Annual Meetings & Live Stream<br><br>
The annual meetings of the National Association of Guide Dog Users will
be held on Sunday, July 5 and Tuesday, July 7 In Salon 3, Level 2.
Registration will begin at 6:00 p.m. each day outside the meeting room
and will close promptly at 6:45 p.m. so all members can participate in
every aspect of our meetings. During the meetings we will have several
reports, discussions, and other events of concern to those interested in
issues related to guide dog users. Several valuable door prizes will be
given away and you must be present to win! <br><br>
On Sunday, July 5, we will hear from those who chair the various
committees of NAGDU, including our Social Networking, Fund Raising, and
Hotline Committees. Brett Sample, who is an NFB member, is creating a
guide dog training program in Puerto Rico modeled after our NFB training
centers. Brett will share his work and projections with us. We will also
share exciting information about our progress enhancing access to the
country’s zoos.<br><br>
<br><br>
On Tuesday, July 7, we will again be open for NAGDU registration and
acceptance of membership dues from 6:00 – 6:45 p.m. and our meeting will
be called to order at 7:00 p.m. sharp. We will hear from Tim Elder, NFB’s
lead attorney in our federal law suit against Uber. Tim will share the
most up-to-date information with us first, so join our meeting for this
breaking news. We will also have a presentation by john Bifield about
community & residential guide dog training and a panel discussion by
officials of various guide dog training programs about ownership and the
immediate and long-term considerations every potential guide dog program
consumer should know about the practical implications of unconditional
ownership compared to custody. During this meeting, we will also share
guide dog user related resolutions passed by the Resolutions Committee
the prior day. Most importantly, we will hold elections for vice
President, Treasurer, and one board position.<br><br>
We will also have a 50/50 drawing at the end of each meeting. 50/50
tickets will be $1.00/each or 6 for $5.00. Because the prize is cash,
only cash will be accepted for the 50/50 drawing! <br><br>
At both meetings, we will be taking up a collection to help defray the
cost of our relief areas, Relief areas cost the national Federation of
the Blind about $3500 to construct and maintain. The contributions we
collect are added to our support of the White Cane Fund, where the
expense of relief areas is drawn. Please give to this as you are
able!<br><br>
We will also be auctioning a brand-new leather guide dog harness
contributed by a private donor. This harness has a girth of 28 – 36
inches, a 19-inch straight handle, and includes a 6-foot leather leash.
The auction will be held during our July 7 meeting.<br><br>
This year’s fund raising product is a must-have for every active,
on-the-go individual. We will be selling 16 oz. double-wall stainless
steel, spill proof, leak-proof, insulated beverage containers. The
containers are steel blue in color emblazoned with our 75<sup>th</sup>
Anniversary logo in white. These containers feature a contoured grip, a
locking flip top and keep liquid hot for 4 hours and cold for 10 hours.
These high quality travel containers are only $20 each and our supply is
limited! We will accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover,
cash, and check. Please stop by exhibit hall table B-17 or come to the
NAGDU meeting early to get one of these amazing items while supplies
last!<br><br>
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Relieving Areas<br><br>
Keep in mind that the stress of convention, the change in schedule, and
differences in water quality may have an adverse effect on your dog’s
relieving schedule and stool consistency. These factors inevitably result
in accidents in the hotel. Please remember to relieve your dog more
frequently in order to make this a good experience for all attendees. If
your dog has an accident, please stop and protect the spot from being
stepped in and spread. Stay in the place where the accident occurred and
notify the hotel to have maintenance come clean it up. It is far easier
to clean up one area than one that has spread because someone stepped in
it!<br><br>
With more than 500 guide dog teams, you can imagine the challenge of
ensuring adequate, clean relief areas at convention. The Rosen Centre,
our host hotel, will have two relief areas available to us. The first
area will be located outside the main lobby entrance to the left about 45
degrees. The other will be located on the convention side of the hotel
outside the entrance to the right. As a point of reference, this area is
located underneath the catwalk to the Orange County Convention Center
where our exhibit hall is located. The Rosen Plaza will have one relief
area located outside the main entrance to the left about 20 yards and
just past the down curb. Please check with the other overflow hotels for
information about placement of our relief areas. Please use these relief
areas and remember to do the responsible thing: Pick up after your dog!
This is a team effort, so please join us in encouraging others to use the
relief areas and clean up!<br><br>
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Dog Food<br><br>
The National Association of Guide dog Users has made arrangements with
Petco to have dog food delivered to the convention hotels. This
arrangement is for dog food only; no other product will be available
through this arrangement. A message was sent to the NFBNET subscribers’
list about this. If you missed or deleted it, please send a message
requesting this information to<br><br>
<br><br>
<a href="mailto:Info@NAGDU.ORG">Info@NAGDU.ORG</a><br><br>
<br><br>
Florida Law concerning Service Dogs<br><br>
The state of Florida has very good civil rights provisions for service
dog access. This law (413.08 f.s.) provides criminal penalties to any
person, firm, or corporation that denies or interferes with the full and
equal access of a disabled person accompanied by a service dog. If you
have any issues of access while attending convention, we want to know
about it! Should an access issue arise, please call the NAGDU president,
Marion Gwizdala, at 813-626-2789. This number is also a good number for
any other guide dog related questions or concerns that might arise as the
result of your travel to or from convention or for more information while
in Orlando!<br><br>
We hope you enjoy your attendance at the 75<sup>th</sup> anniversary
convention of the national Federation of the Blind and we look forward to
your participation – either live or virtually – in the meetings of the
National Association of Guide Dog Users. We encourage everyone to keep
moving forward!<br><br>
<br><br>
Fraternally yours,<br><br>
Marion Gwizdala, President<br><br>
National Association of Guide dog users<br><br>
National Federation of the Blind<br><br>
(813) 626-2789<br><br>
<a href="mailto:President@nagdu.org">President@nagdu.org</a><br><br>
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