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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>August 14, 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 1618<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> On Thursday and Friday of this week many of us will be traveling to Greenville to attend the sixty-first annual State Convention of the NFB of SC. The State Office has been extremely busy during the past few weeks producing print and Braille agendas, Braille menus, name tags, and handling many other details for the convention. As many of you know, David and Darleen Houck will not be with us at the convention this year as they will be taking a much needed and deserved Alaska cruise from August 12-24. Catherine Williams of the Columbia Chapter will be responsible for registration and although we will miss the Houcks presence at the convention, I know Ms. Williams will do an outstanding job. If you want a sneak preview of the agenda, it has been posted on the NFB of SC list serve, web site, and Newsline. I would encourage you to please check out the exhibits this year after you register and pick up your convention packets. A few of the exhibitors we will have this year are VFO (formally Freedom Scientific), 3D Photo Works, AIRA, an assistive technology company, and Vision Accessibility. The theme for the convention this year is “you can live the life you want”. As we have done in past years, we will be conducting our annual banquet fundraiser Saturday evening, August 19, to help fund the NFB of SC. We need individuals as well as chapters to step up and contribute during the banquet which will greatly help to fund our state organization. We will have door prize drawings throughout the convention as usual. Of course, Lenora Robertson of Rock Hill is the Chairperson of the Door Prize Committee. All door prizes should be given to Lenora soon after you arrive to the State Convention. As we have done for many years, we will be conducting a memorial service and devotion on Sunday Morning of the Convention. Please give Dorothy Barksdale names of individuals in your chapter who have passed away since last year’s state convention. The 2017 NFB of SC convention promises to be one of the best ever and I am looking forward to seeing many of you this weekend. <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> With the state convention being held in Greenville, our thoughts turn to the Greenville Chapter and its President, JW Smith. I’m sure the Greenville Chapter will be an excellent host under the direction of JW Smith. We are honored to spotlight JW who is a very loyal federationist. We also appreciate the fact that his wife, Ora Bell is very much involved in federation activities. JW Smith is President of the Greenville Chapter of the NFB of SC. He has served in this position since 2004 and he has also served on the NFB of SC Board of Directors for about five years. Born and raised in Greenville County, he was brought up in Fountain Inn. He went to the public schools, graduating from Dryson High School. While in high school he played trombone in the school band. After graduation JW attended Greenville Tech studying meat cutting. He spent ten years as a licensed blind vending stand operator in the DHEC building. JW and Ora Bell have been married for 27 years and have eight children, 32 grandchildren and twice as many great-grandchildren. JW Smith first learned of the NFB of SC when he and Louise Watson, a member of the Rock hill Chapter, were in training at the Commission for the Blind and Louise invited him to attend a Columbia Chapter meeting. JW then joined the Greenville Chapter in 2003 and the rest is history. JW has attended five national conventions and has not missed one state convention since he became a member. Vary active even outside the Greenville Chapter, JA and Ora Bell use the chapter’s van, transporting the blind for fishing trips, senior camps, and children’s camps. They are active in various projects at Rocky Bottom including hauling off trash from the property, working on Fun Day and attending the Christmas Board Retreats at RBRCCB. JW’s hobbies included riding a motorcycle in his younger days when he had sight and fishing. JW and Ora Bell Smith are members of the Old Shady Oak Baptist Church in Simpsonville where JW is a Trustee Emeritus as he assists with a number of church and youth activities. As you can see, JW is quite prolific in a number of areas but especially in his work with the state’s blind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Final Thought: There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who say, “What happened?” Which are you?<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>