[NFBofSC] Positive Note 1744

[David Houck]

January 15, 2020

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

From:  Frank Coppel, President

Positive Note 1744

Greetings Fellow Federationists:

 

              The 2020 convention of the National Federation of the Blind
will take place in Houston, Texas, July 14 to July 19, at the Hilton
Americas-Houston hotel, 1600 Lamar Street, Houston, TX 77010. Make your room
reservation as soon as possible with the Hilton Americas-Houston. Call
1-800-236-2905 to reserve your room in the main hotel. If you wish to stay
in our overflow hotel, the Marriott Marquis Houston, the number to call is
1-877-688-4323.  The 2020 room rate at our main hotel is $105 per night and
applies to singles and doubles as well as triples and quads. Hotel and sales
taxes in Houston are 13.38 percent and 8.25 percent, respectively. The rate
for the overflow Marriott Marquis is slightly higher at $119. As with our
main hotel, hotel and sales taxes are additional, and the nightly rate
covers up to four in a room. Both hotels will take a deposit of the first
night's room rate for each room and will require a credit card or a personal
check.  If you use a credit card, the deposit will be charged against your
card immediately. If a reservation is cancelled before Friday, June 1, 2020,
half of the deposit will be returned. Otherwise refunds will not be made.
Rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.  Reservations
may be made before June 1, 2020, assuming that rooms are still available.
After that time the hotels will not hold our room block for the convention.
In other words, you should get your reservation in soon.  Both hotels offer
complimentary in-room wireless internet (though the Marriott requires a
free-to-establish Marriott Bonvoy account) and fitness center access for all
guests. All rooms are furnished with mini refrigerators along with many of
the usual amenities such as in-room safes, irons and ironing boards, and
hair dryers. After the day's events, you can get your swim on at either
hotel. The Hilton has an indoor pool on the 23rd floor, while the Marriott
features an outdoor pool adjacent to its Texas-shaped lazy river pool. Both
hotels have several on-premise dining outlets with a broad range of
additional options within a short walk from the front door.  The schedule
for the 2020 convention is:

 

Tuesday, July 14 Seminar Day

Wednesday, July 15 Registration and Resolutions Day

Thursday, July 16 Board Meeting and Division Day

Friday, July 17 Opening Session

Saturday, July 18 Business Session

Sunday, July 19 Banquet Day and Adjournment

 

              Please do not forget to purchase your tickets to attend the
fifth annual Sweetheart dance sponsored by the NFB of SC which will be held
on Saturday, February 15, 2020 at the Federation Center of the Blind from
5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  The evening promises to be a fun and enjoyable
experience with a professionally catered dinner, door prizes, music and
dancing.  Tickets to this event will be $25 per person and all proceeds will
go to the NFB of SC.  Please make checks payable to NFB of SC and mail to:
NFB of SC, 119 S. Kilbourne Road, Columbia, SC 29205.  Please note the memo
line for Sweethearts Dance. Deadline to purchase tickets is Wednesday,
February 5, 2020.  In the past, members, chapters, and divisions have been
very generous donating door prizes for this special event.  Door prize
Contributions can include gift cards, cash or assembled gift baskets. Please
contact Jennifer Bazer at 803-960-9977 or jhipp25 at sc.rr.com if you would
like to contribute a door prize.   If you have any questions regarding this
fundraising event, please contact Debra Canty, Sweetheart dance Chairperson,
at 803-775-5792 or via email at debra.canty at frontier.com. 

              If you have not done so already, I strongly encourage you to
pay your $10 state dues as soon as possible as the deadline to receive dues
is January31, 2020.  When you submit your $10 state dues, it is extremely
important you provide accurate contact information such as, name, address,
phone number and email address if applicable.  These things do change and if
we do not have accurate information, we and our national office cannot keep
you up to date on what's going on.  Our national office is requiring each
state affiliate to submit a spread sheet listing members and their contact
information. Once the national office receives this information, members
listed on the spread sheet will receive a membership medallion which will
signify you as a member of the NFB.  

              We have an announcement from Cayte Mendez, Chairperson of the
NFB national scholarship committee.  "Every year, the National Federation of
the Blind awards more than $120,000 to blind scholars across the fifty
states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in recognition of their
achievements and professional aspirations. The scholarship program is our
commitment to academic excellence and leadership among blind students, and
each winner is awarded on the basis of academic excellence, community
service, and leadership. The application process opened Friday, November 1.
Review the scholarship application checklist and the scholarship program
FAQs. Share this opportunity that invests in the future of blind people.
Learn about the eligibility and requirements of the 2020 scholarship
program."  I would hope many of our students from South Carolina are taking
advantage of this wonderful opportunity and are applying for one of these
national scholarships.  

              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.  

 

Final Thought:   Transforming our dreams into reality:  "Faith sees the
invisible, believes the incredible and accomplished the impossible."  

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