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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>May 15, 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 1709<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> Please continue 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> Also, please continue to preregister for the NFB of SC 2019 state convention. The total preregistration package is $80 which includes a very special Friday evening reception, continental breakfast Saturday and Sunday morning of the convention, the Saturday Luncheon and the Saturday evening Banquet. The preregistration period will end August 2, after which time the cost to register for the state convention will be $100. We will again offer a discount for families with children during the preregistration period. Parents will pay the $80 preregistration fee and each child eighteen years of age and younger will pay $20. There will also be a discount to college students in the amount of $50 during the preregistration period. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Congratulations to Derique Simon who was informed last week he has been selected as a national scholarship winner for the 2019 NFB national convention in Las Vegas. Derique is one of thirty student finalists who will be receiving scholarships ranging from $3,000 to $12,000 at the convention banquet on Friday evening, July 12. Derique will be attending Lander College in Greenwood in the fall, and his vocational goal is to be a Victims' Rights and Disability Lawyer. Being selected as a national scholarship winner is quite an honor and we in the NFB of SC are proud of Derique Simon and what he has accomplished thus far in his federation walk. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> I have been informed by our national office in Baltimore there has been a tremendous interest in the Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship program for this year. For this reason, notification to those individuals who have been awarded a Jernigan Scholarship may be delayed until after the May 15, deadline. This year, seven individuals from South Carolina applied for a KJ scholarship. Although it would be great if all seven individuals received assistance to attend their first national convention, the likelihood of this occurring might be unrealistic as a result of the tremendous interest which has been displayed nationwide for this wonderful opportunity. <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> This week we are spotlighting an Associate member of the Columbia Chapter who has been a member for 36 years. I am speaking of Darlene Houck, the lovely wife of Center Executive Director David Houck. Born in Greenville and raised in Liberty, she attended Liberty High School. Following that she worked at Pratt Reed in Central making piano parts. Later she worked with Emb-Tex in Liberty, embroidering huge bolts of cloth on a large machine. Her parents were Joe and Juanita Merck and her brother was Preston and her sister was Elaine. Darlene is 69 and the only member of her immediate family still living. In 1981 Darlene met David on a “blind date” as she likes to call it and a year and four days later they were wed at Calumet Baptist Church in Liberty. Darlene can play the piano and organ and was the church organist when David met Darlene. Following David’s work as a Spinning Doffer at Wamsutta Mills in Anderson, they moved to Columbia in 1983 as Darlene supported David in his new job as Federation Center Executive Director.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Darlene Houck drives David on all his work errands, across Columbia, throughout the state as well as for state and national conventions. She has also driven chapter members to meetings, doctor appointments and on occasion to national conventions. She assists her husband in annual barbecue sales, getting to board meetings, Rocky Bottom Fun Days, etc. Their two sons Martin (age 36) and Kevin (age 33) grew up in the federation, attending federation meetings, conventions and even attending a few Washington Seminars. Martin and his wife Julianna live and work in Durham, NC and Kevin, his wife Carrie and their three daughters Leighann (age 3), Katie and Emily (10 month-old twins) live in Lexington. Darlene has received the Associate Member of the Year Award and she is the NFB of SC Convention Registration Chairperson each year. Darlene and David Houck have attended all state conventions, most national conventions and several Washington Seminars since 1983.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Her hobbies include being a big Clemson Tigers fan, keeping up with friends and family on Facebook and being an active member of Grace Baptist Church in West Columbia where she and David were active in the AWANA youth program for several years. Oh yes, she loves taking care of her three granddaughters and spent Mother’s Day with them. If it were not for the dedication of our spouses who are Associate members, our work in the Federation would be much more difficult. Let’s salute Darlene Houck for all she does to help the blind to live the life they want!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Final Thought: We each walk alone but to resolve blindness issues, we all march together. Contact the NFB Independence Market to read the history of the NFB nationally by ordering: Walking Alone and Marching Together.”<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>