[Nfbofsc] Positive Note 1484

[David Houck]

January 21, 2015

Memo To:  Executive Officers, Board Members, Chapter & Division Presidents &
Others

From:  Parnell Diggs, President

Positive Note 1484

 

Dear Fellow Federationists:

 

              I begin this Positive Note with a very important announcement
about the new NFB of SC website from the President of our Computer Science
and Technology Division, Steve Cook.  Here is what he says.

"If you are a Chapter or Division President in the NFB of SC and would like
to make sure information about your chapter or division is on our new NFB of
SC website, please send the below information to cookcafe at sc.rr.com.  If you
do not have Email access, give me a call at (803) 254-0222, be sure to leave
me a message if we do not answer the phone.  

For example: name of NFB of SC Chapter or Division, names and positions of
chapter or division officers, contact information for your chapter.  This
can be a phone number, Email or any other method you choose for someone to
contact you.  (Be sure to have the individual's permission to post their
name on the website).  You may want to list the meeting time and location
for your chapter or division,  IE: the 3rd Tuesday of each month at Pizza
Hut 123 Example Road, Columbia, SC 29201 from 7:00 to 8:30.

List any cost associated with meetings (such as meals, chapter
transportation if any, etc.).  Or any other information you feel people may
want to know about your chapter or division."

I also have an announcement from the President of the NFB of SC Blind
Seniors Division, Shelley Coppel, who says the following:  "Dear Friends,
The Senior Division is having a drawing at our Statewide Seminar, January
31.  The tickets may still be purchased for $2 per ticket, or $5 for 3
tickets.

I will be at the Seminar ready to sell tickets to anyone who has not
purchased them and would like a chance to win.  For those who may still have
tickets out, I would appreciate you returning any blank ones that you might
have, and to turn in any money to me the day of the Seminar.  I will be
sitting at a strategic place so that I am easy to find.  The Senior Division
appreciates all of the support given to us by our affiliate.  Thank you."

It is time to make reservations for the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Convention
of the National Federation of the Blind occurring this year from July 5
through July 10 in Orlando, Florida.  To do this, you should write directly
to the Rosen Centre Hotel, 9840 International Drive, Orlando, Florida 32819.
You can also call the hotel at (800) 204-7234 after January 1.

The hotel will want a deposit of $95 for each room and will want a credit
card number or a personal check. If you use a credit card, the deposit will
be charged against your card immediately, just as would be the case with a
$95 check. If a reservation is cancelled before May 28, 2015, half of the
deposit will be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made.

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic which 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.  Joining me for comments in this
Positive Note is the President Emeritus of the NFB of SC.  Here is Dr.
Capps.

              We are now accepting applications for the vacant Resident
Manager's position at RBRCCB.  Beginning Thursday evening I can be reached
at RBRCCB at 864-878-9090.  The Resident Manager's position is very
important as it involves special service to the blind of the state.  We will
be making every effort to employ an individual who meets the high standards
required by this position.  I will be in RBRCCB for several days and will be
accessible.  The Senior Blind Camp will be held May 17-21.  We are fortunate
that we have Frank Coppel to direct this program.   The Children's Camp will
take place June 7-12 and we are also fortunate in having Tracy Spittle and
her husband Thom heading up this important service.  We are looking forward
to the Canadian group coming in a couple of months in March.  

              A very important anniversary will take place in 2016, a year
from now.  The Commission for the Blind began operating in 1966 following
the signing of the Commission legislation on May 6, 1966.  In a previous
issue of the Palmetto Blind, Marshall Tucker superbly covered the history of
the Commission project at the 1964 state convention of the NFB of SC.  There
is a beautiful history of how the NFB of SC went about getting this
controversial legislation passed nearly 50 years ago.  The following is the
strategy we used.  In early 1965 the NFB of SC had only a handful of
chapters in only four or five of the largest cities in the state and this
required a lot of traveling by blind leaders.  It was felt that the best way
to get this controversial legislation adopted by the legislature was to have
the blind contact the legislators where they lived.  We of course did
lobbying at the State House when legislators were in Columbia but the bulk
of the work was done where the legislators lived.  The Federation Center had
been built three or four years earlier in 1961 and this facility hosted
blind persons from throughout the state.  In early 1965 three-by-five cards
containing legislator's names, phone numbers and addresses were passed out
to those present including a brochure listing the reasons for the
Commission.  The strategy involved not only contacts by the blind but also
the result of their contact with the legislator.  There aren't too many left
who participated in the statewide canvas but certainly Lois and Marshall
Tucker were involved and did a super job in their contacts.  I spent so much
time at the State House that word got out that I was running for public
office, which of course was not true.  Dr. Fred L. Crawford, a graduate of
the School for the Blind and USC Law School, was beneficial throughout the
campaign.  Dr. Crawford was the first Commissioner and held this position
for some seven years but of course is retired now.  I recall traveling to
Ridgeland to see a legislator and managed to corral him at church on Sunday.
This legislator was Frank Baldwin who was the Chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee.  Other places I visited were Clover, Manning, Newberry, Saluda,
etc.  I hope that the Commission for the Blind and the NFB of SC can soon
have a joint meeting to begin work for a special anniversary program in
2016.  We enjoy a good relationship with the Commission and our respective
leaders would no doubt come up with an excellent 50th anniversary
celebration.

 

Final Thought:  "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in
moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of
challenge and controversy." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

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