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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>December 13, 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 1635<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> By now all of you should have received your Statewide Seminar Letter. Please fill out the form at the end of the Statewide Seminar letter and return it to the State Office as soon as possible. You can also call the State Office at (803) 254-3777 and let us know if you are planning to attend the Statewide Seminar on January 6, 2018. Please notify the State Office of your intentions in order that we may have an accurate count for the luncheon which will be free of charge. Remember we will be conducting an auction throughout the day to raise money for the Federation Center. Be sure to bring items for the auction such as, cakes, pies, cookies, gift baskets, and electronics. Also, please continue to sell your Orlando National Convention bus tickets. You can either mail your ticket stubs and money to the Federation Center or bring them with you to the Seminar on Saturday, January 6. The drawing will take place at the conclusion of the Seminar. The winning ticket will receive $300, the seller of the winning ticket will receive $100 and the chapter selling the most tickets will receive $300. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> It is not too early to begin submitting your state dues of $10 for 2018 to the state office. Remember that we need to have your name, address, phone number and email address if applicable. This information does change from time to time and if we do not have updated information, we cannot keep you up to date on what’s going on. The deadline for dues is January 31, 2018, so why wait! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> We have an announcement from Joe Ruffalo, President of the NFB of New Jersey. “The National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey’s technology division is proud to present our fourth nationwide technology seminar featuring Marty Schultz and his Blindfold Games and more on Monday, December 18 at 8 PM.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Marty Schultz, owner of Blindfold Games, will tell us all about his apps that are made accessible for blind and visually impaired users on their favorite iOS powered devices such as an iPhone, iPad, or an iPod Touch. To learn more about Blindfold Games, please visit www.blindfoldgames.org.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> To attend the call, dial 515-604-9570, then use access code 612068 pound. You will hear the code you entered repeated. Press 1 if it is correct. Press 2 to re-enter it. If you press 1, you then announce yourself by stating your name and you will then be entered into the conference call.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> In order to obtain the best possible sound for the call, the host will put all callers into mute mode until the Q and A portion of the call. You will be able to hear everything during the call but background noise from your location will not disturb others listening in on the conversation. During the Q and A portion of the call, you can unmute yourself by pressing star 6. Before giving a comment or asking a question, please announce your name and what state you are from, and then wait for the moderator to recognize you before speaking. We can have too many people trying to seek the floor at one time and chaos can occur. The moderators will do their very best to recognize as many callers as possible however, they will determine the order in which speakers proceed. When finished with your comments or questions, press star 6 again to go back into “mute” mode to facilitate better, uncluttered communication for everyone. Star 6 also works when you have your phone on speaker.” <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> The Christmas season brings out the best in just about everyone. It is celebrated in different ways. Each year there is a beautiful 35 foot Christmas fir tree placed in front of the State House steps on Gervais Street. There are several thousand lights on this unique tree. Thousands of people enjoy the annual tree lighting ceremony. This tree represents both the City of Columbia and the state of South Carolina. There are many Christmas trees beautifully decorated in various communities in Columbia, and of course, other communities statewide enjoy their Christmas decorations. Last Christmas we attended the “Singing Christmas Tree” here in Columbia at the Shandon Baptist Church. It was wonderful. If you haven’t done so, you might consider this production. It is free of charge. Shandon Baptist was the first church I attended when I came to Columbia some 70 years ago in 1946. The church grew rapidly, requiring the construction of a much larger church. Shandon Baptist is located on Forest Drive. I am looking forward to our Columbia Chapter meeting this Thursday evening, December 14. It will feature a wonderful banquet, a Christmas message and an attendance of around 100. There will also be a gift exchange. The many things taking place attributes to the many beautiful sites and special programs. It even snowed four inches over the weekend at Rocky Bottom and it didn’t miss our Christmas Board Retreat by very much.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Final Thought: “Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.” ¯ Charles M. Schulz<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>