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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>March 8, 2017 <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Memo To: Executive Officers, Board Members, Chapter & Division Presidents & Others<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>From: Frank Coppel, President<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Positive Note 1595<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Greetings Fellow Federationists: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> A decision has been made regarding the location and dates for this year’s NFB of SC state convention. I am pleased to announce the 2017 state convention will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Greenville (220 Main Street), the weekend of August 18-20. Room rates for this year’s convention are very affordable. Room rates are $99 per night for one to four in a room. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 12 percent. The Hyatt Regency is a beautiful hotel and it has excellent accommodations and facilities to host our state convention. I am very excited we have the opportunity to return to the Greenville Hyatt Regency as it has been approximately thirteen years since we held a state convention in this location. In the very near future, I will provide all of you the necessary hotel reservation information and when we can begin to make room reservations, so stay tuned! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> This past Saturday, March 4, Shelley and I had a wonderful time attending the second annual Upstate Seminar which was held in Walker Hall on the campus of the SC School for the Deaf and Blind. Approximately 65 Federationists were in attendance representing the Greenville, Cherokee County, Anderson, Spartanburg, and Columbia chapters. J.W. Smith and Jamie Allison did a great job organizing and planning the program for this event. Agenda items included presentations from the NFB of SC, Rocky Bottom, NFB of SC Career Boost program, and The BELL Academy. The audience also heard reports from the SC School for the Blind and the SC Talking Book Services. A great deal of enthusiasm was generated throughout the day as an auction was held during the lunch break and door prizes were handed out at the conclusion of the seminar. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Congratulations for a job well-done goes to Thom Spittle, a member of the Columbia chapter and an assistive technology instructor at the Federation Center of the Blind for his appearance on the SC ETV program Palmetto Scene which aired this past Thursday evening March 2. Thom’s comments on the program were excellent as he dispelled many of the myths and misconceptions regarding blindness and he also did a great job describing how assistive technology has helped to improve the quality of life of people who are blind. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Many thanks go to J.W. Smith and the Greenville chapter for volunteering their time at RBRCCB today. J.W. Smith and a friend assisted Linda Bible, the Interim Resident Manager in hauling off trash, underbrush, and a toilet bowl which was found on the trail behind the Ellenberg Lodge. RBRCCB has many needs and we would greatly appreciate it if other chapters would take the initiative and “step up” as did the Greenville chapter to make RBRCCB a better place. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> 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. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Continuing with NFB conventions of yesteryear, little did I realize a few months later that our NFB Founder, Dr. Jacobus tenBroek would die because of cancer. He realized after the 1967 convention that he had fatal cancer and in early 1968 he summoned NFB board members to a special convention to be held in his residence. The convention was held in Berkeley where Dr. tenBroek lived. I will never forget this convention. Dr. tenBroek was having so much pain that he finally got onto the floor and rolled back and forth in hopes of relief but it seemed not to help. Dr. tenBroek died in 1968 some three months before the NFB convention. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> It was Dr. Kenneth Jernigan who was the First Vice President at that time and he assumed the temporary presidency. The convention was held in Des Moines, Iowa where Dr. Jernigan was Executive Director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind. Dr. Jernigan was Executive Director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind for 20 years from 1958 to 1978. The Des Moines convention enabled us to learn more about a separate agency for the blind. The convention was not totally peaceful as most everyone felt that I should rise up from Second Vice President to First Vice President. I had been Second Vice President for some nine years, having been elected at the Santa Fe 1959 convention. During the convention one individual (now deceased) campaigned vigorously for the Second Vice President seat but received only a couple of votes against me during the election. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> The 1969 convention was interesting. Like Dr. Jernigan’s supporting the 1968 convention, I supported equally the 1969 convention. Between 700 and 800 delegates attended the Columbia NFB convention. The Wade Hampton Hotel would be the headquarters convention facility. However, it proved necessary to enlist the assistance of the Columbia Hotel, one block from the Wade Hampton, and a motel facility also just one block from the Wade Hampton. Not one of these two hotels and the other motel exist today. Also, some delegates were able to stay at the University of South Carolina. The high point of the Columbia convention was a tour of the Governor’s Mansion with Gov. Robert E. McNair on hand to greet the delegates. We also arranged for the delegates to travel to Charleston with the goal being to visit Ft. Sumter. SCE&G provided the busses. We thought we had everything worked out for the Charleston visit but unfortunately the busses did not follow instructions. Some did not arrive back in Columbia until after midnight. There was some irritation and understandably so. I took the microphone and explained to the delegates what happened. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> The 1968 and 1969 NFB conventions for the most part were educational. By the way, we salute Dr. Fred L. Crawford who was Executive Director of the SC Commission for the Blind in 1969 when the Commission was located a couple of blocks away from the convention. Dr. Crawford was most gracious.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Final Thought: Raising Expectations: “Proper attitudes about blindness combined with a can-do attitude acts like the ‘Miracle Grow’ for life.” <o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>