[NFBO-Springfield] January Meeting Minutes

[Todd Elzey]

Good afternoon!  Below are the minutes from the January meeting for
everyone's consideration. Thanks!

*National Federation of the Blind of Ohio*

*Springfield Chapter Meeting*

*January 15, 2022*



Attendees:



Debbie Baker, President

Susan Day, Vice President

Todd Elzey, Secretary

Crystal McClain, Treasurer

Macy McClain

Mickie Cooper

Vickie Travis

Eric Duffy

Sharon Dodds

Dan O’Keefe

Arlie Ray

Kevin Rose, Turner Foundation - Hartman Rock Garden Presentations



President Baker introduced Kevin Rose who is the Historian and the Director
of Revitalization for the Turner Foundation in Springfield. Mr. Rose stated
that the Foundation is focused on making the community better.  They have
worked on projects such as health care, education, and cultural tourism.
The Foundation paid for most of the restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright
House, which is now an important cultural museum for the area.



Mr. Rose stated that the Turner Foundation is now working on the Hartman
Rock Garden, which was last purchased by the Kohler Foundation. Kohler
purchased it for over $1 Million site unseen because of its artistic
importance.  The Rock Garden attracts thousands of people to Springfield
from all around the world. The garden attracts a wide variety of people
across cultural-economic boundaries.  Last year the Rock Garden received
about 12,500 visitors. Rose stated that it is one of the top 25 cultural
tourism sites in the Dayton region. According to Rose, the site is not very
accessible because it was built in the 1930s. The Foundation wants to make
the site accessible.  The Springfield Foundation, Arts Possible Ohio has
provided accessibility grants.  Sarah Bollington, an art accessibility
advocate, recommended touch tours, and that’s one of the things the
foundation is working on.  The garden has about 200 objects.



President Baker asked about whether the touch tours will require wearing
gloves. Mr. Rose talked about how most of the artworks are made of
concrete. They are creating new casts and one of the new casts of each item
will be used for the touch assist tours.  They are working with an artist
out of Columbus Ohio, Candace Black, to create the casts.  They are also
going to create braille and audio descriptions of the pieces.



President Baker asked if the Garden has anything that is scented. Mr. Rose
indicated that yes it does because in addition to the rock sculptures, the
Rock Garden is a horticulture garden.  However, this isn’t their focus
because the Garden is open year-round. The garden actually gets better
reviews during the winter because the art is more visible without the
surrounding flowers.



Dan asked about whether the sidewalks would be improved. Mr. Rose stated
that they are going to add curb cuts on the streets. The Foundation also
plans to widen and improve the sidewalks leading to the garden. They can’t
widen the sidewalks in the garden, but they are going to improve the
navigation of the existing sidewalks. In particular, they plan to replace
missing sidewalks.



President Baker will be serving on the accessibility task force for the
Garden.



The Chapter discussed visiting the Hartman Rock Garden once the weather
improves. The Chapter thought this would be a great way to not only visit
the garden but also to see any additional accessibility issues that we
might have recommendations on.



Following Mr. Rose’s presentation, the Chapter moved to regular business.



During the Secretaries Report, Macy asked that the December minutes be
corrected to reflect the correct name of the Hartman Rock Garden.  Macy
moved Susan seconded the minutes as corrected.  The motion passed without
objection.



Treasurer Crystal McClain presented the Treasurer’s report. The December
beginning was $4636.95 The Chapter received Income of $15 in dues. The
Chapter incurred expenses of $20 for PAC, and $200 for Washington Seminar
Travel. This gave the Chapter a December ending balance $4416.95.  Eric
moved to accept the treasurer’s report, and Todd seconded.  The motion
passed without objection.



Todd & Eric will be returning the $100 they each received from the Chapter
for Washington Seminar travel expenses because the Seminar is now all
virtual.



Eric talked about the Convention is For All article from the Braille
Monitor. Eric also talked about the January 2022 article on voting rights.
He also discussed Coleen Roth’s article in the January 2022 Braille
Monitor. President Baker encouraged everyone to subscribe to the Braille
Monitor.



In connection with the article on voting rights, Vice President Day
discussed how a local church helps individuals obtain birth certificates
and ids.



President Baker discussed the January 2022 Presidential Release from NFB
President Mark Riccobono:



1.  National Convention – July 5-10, 2022 in New Orleans. The main hotel
will be the Marriott, the overflow hotel and exhibits will be at the
Sheraton, which is across the street from the Marriott.  Hotel rooms cost
$109+fees for singles and doubles, and $119+fees for triples and quads.
Convention registration begins March 1st and the registration fee is $25.
The Banquet will be held Sunday, July 10, 2022, and the cost is $70.



2.  The year the NFB has enhanced all 30 scholarships so that each
recipient receives $8,000. Scholarship applicants must now be 18 years or
older.  The scholarship application deadline is March 31st.



3.  The National Convention schedule is generally the first day is seminar
day, the second day is Resolutions & the National Board meeting, the third
day is Division day, and then the remainder of the convention is for
sessions. The Convention concludes with the Annual Banquet.



4.  KNFB Reader app is now being supported/run by Sensotec.  The apps name
has changed to One Step Reader.



5.  Washington Seminar will now be all virtual.  The associated career fair
is also virtual.



6.  The revised Code of Conduct was approved and is available at the NFB
website, www.nfb.org.



7. NFB is planning a BELL Academy that will be both virtual and in-person.



8.. NFB is also developing a civil rights museum to promote the history of
the blind.



Legislative update:



NFB of Ohio Legislative Director Eric Duffy updated the Chapter on the
status of the NFB of Ohio’s legislation. Eric reminded the Chapter that
H.B. 352 our parental rights legislation had passed the house, and that our
companion bill S.B. 202 was progressing through the Senate Judiciary
Committee. Eric also stated that we were still waiting for a hearing for
our prescription labeling bill H.B. 448. H.B. 448 was scheduled to be heard
by the House Insurance Committee in December, but that hearing was canceled.



Eric also discussed our 4 Federal Legislative Priorities, The Access
Affordability Technology Act, The Medical Device Non-Visual Accessibility
Act, the Transition to Competitive Integrated Employment Act, and the
Twenty-First Century Websites and App Accessibility Act.



Todd spoke about the upcoming NFB Writers Division Contest. The Writers
Division sponsors a writing contest each year for both adults and youth.
This year adult competitors can submit entries in the short fiction,
nonfiction, or poetry categories. Youth contestants compete in the short
fiction and poetry categories, and there are youth divisions for elementary
school (1-4 grade), middle school (5-8 grade), and high school (9-12
grade).



There will be three places in each category. Adult contestants can win $75
for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for 3rd place. While youth
competitors can win $30 for first, $20 for second, and $10 for third.



Youth contest entrants must submit their entries in Braille. There is no
fee for youth entrants. Adults entrants are required to submit their
entries via email and there is a $15 entry fee for Division members and a
$20 fee for non-members. All entries must be received by April 30, 2022.
If interested, you can find the full guidelines for the contest at
https://writers.nfb.org/ContestPage.html.



President Baker informed everyone that our next meeting would be Saturday,
February 19, 2022. The meeting was adjourned.
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