[Nfbofsc] Positive Note 1539

[David Houck]

February 10, 2016

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

From:  Frank Coppel, President

Positive Note 1539


Greetings Fellow Federationists:

 

              This past Wednesday Shelley and I traveled to Myrtle Beach for
the purpose of looking at three potential hotel sites for our 2016 state
convention which will be held October 21, 22, and 23.  There are many
factors such as room rates, meeting space, catering, overall appearance of
the hotel to name a few which need to be considered when selecting a hotel
site for the State Convention.  I plan to make a decision within the next
two weeks and I am hopeful we can have a contract signed no later than the
end of March.  One of the most enjoyable aspects of this process has been my
experience working with Ms. Ursula Grant who is a Convention Sales Manager
with the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce.  Ms. Grant was extremely helpful
identifying potential hotel sites and coordinating our appointments with the
various hotels.  She was also was very instrumental in securing a $1,500
contribution from the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce to help defray
convention expenses.  As I stated earlier, plans are to have a contract in
place no later than the end of March and I will announce in the Positive
Note when you can begin making hotel reservations for the NFB of SC 2016
State Convention.  

              David Houck, Editor of the Palmetto Blind, would like to make
the following announcement: "The Spring edition of the Palmetto Blind is in
production!  If you received the cassette edition or want to receive the
audio edition, Talking Book Services will be reading and distributing it in
their digital format.  Please call them at 803-734-4611 if you wish to
receive it in this manner, or if you are not signed up to receive talking
books, you can do so at this time too.  Watch for it on Newsline and on our
web page at nfbofsc.org.  If you want it via email text, please email the
Center requesting it, providing your email address."  

              If you have not done so already, please make your hotel
reservations for the 2016 NFB National Convention in Orlando Florida.  The
date of this year's national convention will be June 30, to July 5, 2016 and
will be held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort.  The 2016 room rates are
singles and doubles, $83; and triples and quads, $89. In addition to the
room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 12.5 percent. No charge
will be made for children under seventeen in the room with parents as long
as no extra bed is requested. Please note that the hotel is a no-smoking
facility.

              For 2016 convention room reservations you can call the hotel
at (866) 996-6338.  You may also write directly to the Rosen Shingle Creek,
9939 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32819-9357. 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 Friday May, 27, 2016, half of the
deposit will be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made.  The charter
bus will depart from the Federation Center in Columbia 8:00 a.m. Thursday,
June 30, and the bus will leave Orlando to return to the Federation Center
8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 6.  We are now accepting your reservation fee
of $100 to ride the charter bus to Orlando.  Remember, this reservation fee
is non-refundable and non-transferable.  

              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.  Joining me for comments in this
Positive Note is the President Emeritus of the NFB of SC.  Here is Dr.
Capps.  

              Now that the 50th Super Bowl is history, we'll turn our
thoughts to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Commission for the
Blind.  This will make perhaps the best positive relations the blind can
enjoy and appreciate.  It is slightly less than three months until the
celebration of the Commission.  This is a golden opportunity for the NFB of
SC and the Commission to join hands in promoting this very wholesome and
historic celebration.  

              Only a few of us who were involved in the creation of the
Commission 50 years ago are still living.  To the best of my memory those
who played a part in the passing of the Commission Bill and are still living
include Marshall and Lois Tucker, Dr. Fred Crawford, Gene Rogers and myself.
Both Marshall and Gene as well as myself are still active and we are still
blessed to still be living.  The presentation that Marshall made on the
creation of the Commission for the Blind at the 1064 Charleston convention
was unquestionably the primary key to our success as Marshall's presentation
was very detailed and clear.  This article appeared in the Summer 2014
edition of the Palmetto Blind.  Our thanks to Marshall and David Houck who
reproduced this presentation made in 1964.  The national organization was
also helpful in this major success story.  Dr. Kenneth Jernigan was First
Vice President of the NFB and was also the Executive Director of the Iowa
Commission for the Blind in 1964.  His experience as the head of the Iowa
Commission for the Blind was shared with us.  A member of the House of
Representatives who was a member of the legislative Study Committee made a
trip to Des Moines to meet with Dr. Jernigan and this initiative was highly
beneficial.  

              Eugene F. (Gene) Rogers was tremendously involved with the
blind of the state where legal issues were involved and Gene, who is an
attorney and has been for 60 years, was most helpful.  We worked together in
producing a draft of the Commission Bill, relying upon our knowledge of the
issues affecting the blind of the state.  We also reviewed different bills
of the several state commissions which were operating and this enabled us to
produce the best possible draft for the legislature.  Incidentally, Gene
Rogers who is Betty's brother and my brother-in-law will be the guest
speaker for the Columbia Chapter meeting this Thursday evening, February 11.
I'm sure he will be sharing with the chapter the many experiences he has had
throughout the years.  In addition to being one of Columbia's most
successful attorneys, he is also a General in the National Guard.  He is
essentially retired.  Gene is only eleven months younger than myself and
both of us have of course slowed down in recent years.  Those of you who
will be reading this Positive Note will want to attend Thursday night's 6:30
p.m. meeting to hear what Gene has to say to us.  

              In conclusion, I would be remiss if I did not pay tribute even
50 years later to the blind throughout the state who worked hard to create
the Commission for the Blind, contacting legislators living in their area
and the many who cris-crossed the state to convince legislators that the
state and the blind would be better off with programs housed in a separate
agency.  We were right then and are right today in expending tremendous
energy in creating the Commission for the Blind.

 

Final Thought:  "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are
you doing for others?'" - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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