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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>COLUMBIA CHAPTER NEWSLETTER<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>JULY 20, 2017<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>NFB of SC 2017 GREENVILLE CONVENTION SET<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Please do not forget to 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 will be July 27, 2017. 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.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Just a friendly reminder, if you have not done so already, please send your $80 preregistration fee for this year’s State Convention to the Federation Center of the Blind, 119 S. Kilbourne Rd. Columbia, SC 29205. For the 2017 state convention, we are offering families with children a discount regarding the preregistration fee. Parents will pay the $80 preregistration fee and each child eight teen years of age and younger will pay $20. All preregistration fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable. The $80 preregistration fee will cover the reception on Friday evening, continental breakfast Saturday morning, the luncheon, banquet, and a continental breakfast Sunday morning. The deadline to accept your $80 preregistration fee is August 9. If you wait until after the deadline of August 9, the registration will increase to $100. Save $20 and preregister early! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> At this time one Columbia van will leave on Thursday, August 17 for the Greenville Convention. It is now full; however, if enough put their van reservation in, a second vehicle will be used to transport people to the convention on Friday. If you need a van ride, contact Tiffiny Mitchell at 603-2098 to place your name on the list and pay Kattie Jackson $40 to ride the van round trip.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>ROCKY BOTTOM LABOR DAY FUN DAY TICKETS<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Yes, it’s that time of year when we distribute your starter packs of five $5 Fun Day tickets to the membership! Turn in your sold tickets and filled out stubs to David Houck at the Federation Center and if you need more, contact David Houck at 254-3777 and we will get them out to you fast! The drawing will be held at Rocky Bottom during Fun Day weekend (Labor Day). The winning ticket drawn yields $50 to the seller, $500 to the buyer (if you bought your own ticket you will receive $550) and $300 to the Chapter who sells the most tickets. Will the most sold ticket seller be the Columbia Chapter? Only you can make that happen!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>JULY 20 COLUMBIA CHAPTER MEETING<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> President Tiffiny Mitchell gaveled the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. Steve Cook welcomed everyone attending the meeting and birthdays were recognized for July. Three new members were voted in, the Pendleton’s and their daughter. Ike Nelson’s kitchen crew served a delicious chicken dinner. David Houck gave a devotional on the life of Joseph and trusting God despite the circumstances. The Columbia Chapter Friends and Fellowship will meet on Friday, August 11 at 4 p.m. at the Federation Center. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Isaiah’s wife Stephanie had a stroke and is now in recovery therapy. Lanny Smith is in Hospice and will not live much longer. The freewill offering of $113.58 will be given to Lanny’s family. Victoria Capers and Wanda Sheck are also in the hospital. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> A vote was taken that the use of the center van except for chapter use will be charged $25 per day per use. The van must also be gassed up upon return. These funds will go into a van fund. Those speaking on the NFB Orlando Convention included Justin Williams, Frank Coppel and Tiffiny Mitchell. The 2018 NFB convention will be held July 3-8 in Orlando but the 2019 convention will be held somewhere west of the Mississippi River. South Carolina ranks 12th in PAC. We had 62 delegates at the convention even though we did not charter a bus. New Social Security Administrative Law Judge Parnell Diggs registered in SC and sat in our delegation. He is only one of three blind federal ALJ’s of 1,800 such judges. NFB of SC President Coppel thanked all those who worked on the jelly sales project for the NFB convention to raise funds for the state organization.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> President Mitchell reminds DART passengers to sign up for rides to the chapter meeting at least 14 days prior to the meeting. Top ten BBQ sellers were 1. Donald Capps with $5,030 in sales plus $710 in contributions, 2. Katherine Zeigler with $2,040, 3.Dale Wolthoff with $1,060, 4. Pat Wolthoff with $630, 5. Donna O’Neal with $1,000, 6. Catherine Williams with $900, 7 & 8. are Maggie Floyd and Mary Peters with $870, 9 & 10. are Tiffiny Mitchell and Gail Nelson with $780. Total proceeds were $19,952 less expenses of $12,594, giving net proceeds of $7,358.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> The 50-50 drawing was made and Justin Williams won $50. Kattie Jackson gave the Treasurer’s report and there was $3,708.45 in the treasury. We will begin saying the NFB Pledge at the September chapter meeting, so practice it ahead of time: “I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of the Blind; to achieve equality, opportunity and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tiffiny Mitchell, President, Columbia Chapter, NFB of SC<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>