[Nfbofsc] Positive Note 1609

[David Houck]

June 14, 2017 

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

From:  Frank Coppel, President

Positive Note 1609

Greetings Fellow Federationists:

 

              If you have not done so already, please make your hotel
reservations for the 2017 NFB of SC State Convention which will be held at
the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Greenville, SC  August 18-20.  Room rates are
very affordable.  Rates for this year's convention are  $99 per night for up
to four in a room.  In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which
at present is 12 percent.  There will also be a limited number of rooms
available for the $99 rate Thursday, August 17, for those individuals
wanting to arrive at the hotel a day prior to the official start of the
convention.  The deadline to make reservations is July 27,2017.  The Hyatt
Regency Hotel has set aside a block of rooms for the NFB of SC until July 27
which is only six weeks away.  If you wait until after July 27, to make your
hotel reservation, the hotel may not have an available room for you.  If you
pay in advance, your reservation will be guaranteed; however, you will not
have to pay as long as you arrive by 6:00 p.m.  Any amount you pay, of
course, will be applied toward your bill.          

         You can make your room reservations by calling the Hyatt Regency
reservation telephone number 402-592-6434 and inform the reservationist you
are reserving a room for the National Federation of the Blind of South
Carolina state convention.  The Hyatt Regency hotel has also made available
a dedicated website to book your hotel rooms online. Reservations can be
made starting immediately at this web address:
https://aws.passkey.com/go/natfedblind.

              We have an announcement from Shelley Coppel, President of our
Seniors Division. "I would like to announce the last in our spring series of
conference calls sponsored by the National Seniors Division to be held on
June 15 at 4 o'clock eastern time.  The topic will be:

  "Sources of training other than the state agency."  The moderator will be
Shelley Coppel.  We welcome all.  The phone number to call in is:
712-432-1500; access code 759633 pound 

              For the past two weeks, (June 5-15), the NFB of SC (BELL)
program has been in full swing at the SC School for the Deaf and Blind.  We
would like to take this opportunity to thank Jennifer Duffell Hoffman for
her excellent work during the past four years as she has made a decision to
step down as State Coordinator at the conclusion of this year's (BELL)
program.  Jennifer is planning to pursue other interests, however, she tells
me she will continue to be extremely active in the NFB and be a resource to
parents of blind children in South Carolina.  

              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.  

              We are pleased to spotlight the President of the Charleston
Chapter, Mrs. Josephine Smith.   First off let's talk about the historical
City of Charleston in which she resides.  Charleston is the third oldest
federation chapter in the state which was organized in 1955 - I was there.
The first state convention was held in Charleston in 1957 with the
constitutional convention being held in Columbia in 1956.  The 1957
convention was hoisted by the Fort Sumter Hotel.  Several state conventions
were held in Charleston - some of which had an impact on state programs for
the blind.  In 1964 action was taken by the convention to establish the
Commission for the Blind.  This convention effects lasted for two years of
struggle by the blind themselves to have the old Division for the Blind
abolished and the Commission established instead.  A year ago in May of 2016
there was an observance of the 50th anniversary of the Commission for the
Blind.  In 1997 a convention was hosted by the Charleston Chapter which was
attended by more than 400 delegates.

              Josephine Smith was born and raised and lived most of her life
in Charleston.  She attended the Charleston Public Schools all the way up to
attending Burk High School.  Seeing that she needed to further develop her
Braille and cane travel skills, she completed high school at the Illinois
Braille and Sight Saving School.

              Preparing for work, Josephine Smith joined the South Carolina
Business Enterprise Program.  She worked for 21 years in the Charleston
County government building where she cooked and served customers for over
two decades.  In this way she could help provide for herself and her family.
She married in 1977 and has two daughters, three sons and 21 grandchildren.
With work and family obligations, Josephine Smith still found time to help
her fellow blind in the NFB of SC.  

              She has been a member of the NFB of SC for fifty years and has
served as the Charleston Chapter President for a total of eight years.
Having a desire to increase her knowledge concerning blindness, what it is
and what it is not, she has attended ten NFB national conventions and most
of the NFB of SC state conventions over five decades.

              She is a member of the Gethsemane Baptist Church in Charleston
where she serves as a Deaconess and sits on the church's Missionary
Committee.  Nothing seems to slow her down as Josephine Smith has had a long
history of service to the blind and sighted alike.  We salute her, her
family, and the Charleston Chapter membership for their support of her
record breaking 50 years of service to the blind.

 

Final Thought:  "Criticism has an element of positive instruction.  It goes
both ways.  The object is to accept it without hurt feelings and implement
the positive aspect of criticism."

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