[Nfbofsc] Positive Note 1705

[David Houck]

April 17, 2019

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

From:  Frank Coppel, President

Positive Note 1705

Greetings Fellow Federationists:

 

              The NFB of SC will again be sponsoring a BELL Academy program
which this year will be held at the Federation Center of the Blind from July
22, to August 2, 2019.  I am pleased to announce Tracy Spittle, a teacher of
the visually impaired (TVI) and a member of our Columbia Chapter, will be
heading up the program this year along with a volunteer team consisting of
Shelley Coppel, Frank Coppel, Thom Spittle, Isaiah Nelson, and Tori Diamond.
Instead of individuals traveling to our National Center in Baltimore to
receive training in administering the BELL Program as has been required in
previous years, trainers were sent out to a variety of locations throughout
the country this year to provide this much needed training.  This past
weekend, April 12-13, we were very fortunate to have Krystal Guillory, the
state coordinator of the BELL Academy in Louisiana, to come to South
Carolina to provide this training at the Federation Center.  Although the
training was very intensive, I believe all of us who participated this
weekend came away with a greater understanding as to what to expect
implementing such a vital and important program as the BELL Academy.  

              You can now begin to make your hotel reservations for the 2019
NFB of SC State Convention which will be held at the Marriott Hotel in
Columbia August 9-11.  Room rates are very affordable.  Rates for this
year's convention are $112 per night for up to four in a room.  In addition
to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 14 percent.  The
deadline to make reservations will be July 15, 2019.  There will also be a
limited number of rooms available for the $112 rate Thursday, August 8, for
those individuals wanting to arrive to the hotel a day prior to the official
start of the convention.  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.  The
Marriott Hotel has given the NFB of SC a block of rooms to reserve until
July 15.  If you wait until after July 15, to make your hotel reservation,
the hotel may not have an available room for you and you will not be
eligible for the convention room rate of $112.  You can make your room
reservations by calling the Marriott toll free reservation telephone number
(800) 593-6465 or (803) 771-7000 and inform the reservationist you are
reserving a room for the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina
state convention.  At this year's state convention, , we will be celebrating
the seventy-fifth anniversary of our organization.  We are planning special
activities throughout the weekend to commemorate this wonderful milestone.
We are expecting a large turnout for this convention so you may want to make
your hotel reservations early.  This will be a very special and historic
convention you do not want to miss!  

              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.  

              Happy Easter to all of you.  This week we are spotlighting a
new staff member who has been working with the Federation Center of the
Blind as our Special Projects Coordinator beginning in 2019.  I am speaking
of Dondra Bible, Ashton Bible's wife and Ed Bible's daughter-in-law.  Dondra
was born in South Carolina and raised in Swansea, SC.  She earned her high
school diploma from Swansea High and attended some college at Midlands
Technical College.  Dondra Bible met Ashton while working. He and Dondra
started talking through a mutual friend and never stopped, and the rest is
as they say is "history". Ashton and Dondra have been happily married for
almost nine years now. He is a beloved husband and currently works security
for a local nuclear power plant.

              Dondra has been working in Office Administration for over ten
years now. She has a varied background working with an animal shelter, with
financial institutions, in human resources, accounting, payroll, and at a
law firm.

              Dondra was introduced to the lifestyle of a blind person when
she started dating Ashton and met his dad, Ed Bible. Before that as a
sighted person she imagined that with this disability, you would be
extremely limited with most daily life. As she got to know Ed, Dondra
realized that blindness did not define him at all. His is in fact the most
charismatic person she knows and is very passionate about life. Her journey
with getting to know him has proven that a blind person can do anything that
they set their mind to and that they should never give up or let anyone
bring them down. 

              Dondra enjoys many things but especially loves animals. She is
a cat lover most of all! She also enjoys jigsaw puzzles, dancing, playing
the piano, and spending time with her husband.  She volunteered at Pets
Incorporated to assist animals in many ways and her home church is Covenant
Baptist Church in West Columbia, SC.

              As you can see, Dondra Bible has a varied background, has a
good philosophy about blindness and already she has been a great help in
developing marketing materials for the federation and Rocky Bottom and she
assists  the Center Board Chairman Ed Bible and the Center Executive
Director David Houck in their federation duties to a great extent.  Let's
give Dondra Bible a warm welcome to our federation family!

 

Final Thought:   While we are young we have much energy and as we get older
we gather together much wisdom.

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