<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>April 17, 2019<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 1705<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> The NFB of SC will again be sponsoring a BELL Academy program which this year will be held at the Federation Center of the Blind from July 22, to August 2, 2019. I am pleased to announce Tracy Spittle, a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) and a member of our Columbia Chapter, will be heading up the program this year along with a volunteer team consisting of Shelley Coppel, Frank Coppel, Thom Spittle, Isaiah Nelson, and Tori Diamond. Instead of individuals traveling to our National Center in Baltimore to receive training in administering the BELL Program as has been required in previous years, trainers were sent out to a variety of locations throughout the country this year to provide this much needed training. This past weekend, April 12-13, we were very fortunate to have Krystal Guillory, the state coordinator of the BELL Academy in Louisiana, to come to South Carolina to provide this training at the Federation Center. Although the training was very intensive, I believe all of us who participated this weekend came away with a greater understanding as to what to expect implementing such a vital and important program as the BELL Academy. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> You can now begin to make your hotel reservations for the 2019 NFB of SC State Convention which will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Columbia August 9-11. Room rates are very affordable. Rates for this year’s convention are $112 per night for up to four in a room. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 14 percent. The deadline to make reservations will be July 15, 2019. There will also be a limited number of rooms available for the $112 rate Thursday, August 8, for those individuals wanting to arrive to the hotel a day prior to the official start of the convention. If you pay in advance, your reservation will be guaranteed: however, you will not have to pay as long as you arrive by 6:00 p.m. Any amount you pay, of course, will be applied toward your bill. The Marriott Hotel has given the NFB of SC a block of rooms to reserve until July 15. If you wait until after July 15, to make your hotel reservation, the hotel may not have an available room for you and you will not be eligible for the convention room rate of $112. You can make your room reservations by calling the Marriott toll free reservation telephone number (800) 593-6465 or (803) 771-7000 and inform the reservationist you are reserving a room for the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina state convention. At this year’s state convention, , we will be celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of our organization. We are planning special activities throughout the weekend to commemorate this wonderful milestone. We are expecting a large turnout for this convention so you may want to make your hotel reservations early. This will be a very special and historic convention you do not want to miss! <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> Happy Easter to all of you. This week we are spotlighting a new staff member who has been working with the Federation Center of the Blind as our Special Projects Coordinator beginning in 2019. I am speaking of Dondra Bible, Ashton Bible’s wife and Ed Bible’s daughter-in-law. Dondra was born in South Carolina and raised in Swansea, SC. She earned her high school diploma from Swansea High and attended some college at Midlands Technical College. Dondra Bible met Ashton while working. He and Dondra started talking through a mutual friend and never stopped, and the rest is as they say is “history”. Ashton and Dondra have been happily married for almost nine years now. He is a beloved husband and currently works security for a local nuclear power plant.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Dondra has been working in Office Administration for over ten years now. She has a varied background working with an animal shelter, with financial institutions, in human resources, accounting, payroll, and at a law firm.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Dondra was introduced to the lifestyle of a blind person when she started dating Ashton and met his dad, Ed Bible. Before that as a sighted person she imagined that with this disability, you would be extremely limited with most daily life. As she got to know Ed, Dondra realized that blindness did not define him at all. His is in fact the most charismatic person she knows and is very passionate about life. Her journey with getting to know him has proven that a blind person can do anything that they set their mind to and that they should never give up or let anyone bring them down. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Dondra enjoys many things but especially loves animals. She is a cat lover most of all! She also enjoys jigsaw puzzles, dancing, playing the piano, and spending time with her husband. She volunteered at Pets Incorporated to assist animals in many ways and her home church is Covenant Baptist Church in West Columbia, SC.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> As you can see, Dondra Bible has a varied background, has a good philosophy about blindness and already she has been a great help in developing marketing materials for the federation and Rocky Bottom and she assists the Center Board Chairman Ed Bible and the Center Executive Director David Houck in their federation duties to a great extent. Let’s give Dondra Bible a warm welcome to our federation family!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Final Thought: While we are young we have much energy and as we get older we gather together much wisdom.<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>