[Nfbv-announce] October NFBV of Fairfax Chapter Newsletter

[John Bailey]

 Dear Members and Friends:

This is the October 2010 newsletter of the Fairfax Area Chapter of the 
National Federation of the Blind of Virginia. There is lots and lots of 
exciting information below along with a copy of the Red Lobster menu at the 
end of this newsletter. This issue has so much information, it is necessary 
to have a table of contents. That way, you won't accidently miss any 
important stuff!

In this issue:
.	The next Fairfax Chapter meeting is Thursday, October 21, 2010. This 
Month's Program: We will be visited by a local historian who will tell us 
about the very long history of Fairfax City and about the blind Mayor who 
made it all happen
.	Chapter Elections
.	A Speech from the 2009 Fairfax Chapter Low Vision Fair
.	Meeting Location
.	Information About the 2010 NFBV State Convention to be Held in Falls 
Church
.	Speakers Available to Present at other Organizations
.	NFB Pledge
.	Red Lobster Menu Choices

This Month's Program:
As far as history goes, Fairfax City and the surrounding area is as rich as 
you can find anywhere in the New World. At our October meeting, we will be 
hearing from a local historian from the American Legion who will tell us 
about that rich history as well as about the blind Mayor whose strategic 
decisions several decades ago still affect us today.
Come learn something new about the area as well as having any questions you 
may have answered at our next meeting.

2010 Chapter Elections:
The Fairfax Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind was founded over 
a dozen years ago. During that time, the chapter has gained a reputation 
both locally and nationally as an outstanding community resource.

This is to announce that for the November elections of new officers, we are 
looking for those who have a desire to help continue the chapter's legacy of 
excellence. All offices are open for nominations. The offices are: 
President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and two board positions.

If you are interested in learning about the responsibilities and rewards of 
any of these offices, please approach either John Bailey (703.994.2040) or 
Cathy Schroeder (703.319.9226) to have your questions answered.

A speech Made at the 2009 Fairfax Chapter Low Vision Fair:
In January of 2009, The Fairfax Chapter of the NFB hosted a day long 
Low-Vision resource fair which was held at our local library. We had over 80 
attendees and were able not only to promote the chapter, but to bring 
together other service providers for those in need.

The event came about through the efforts of Bridget Doherty who has been a 
longtime friend of the chapter. She saw the need to bring service providers 
and the community together in order to assist those in need.

I was one of the introductory speakers and I was proud to have Bridget 
introduce me. Below is a transcript of that speech.
Introducer Bridget:
Our next speaker is John Bailey who is, as you know, the president of the 
Fairfax Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind.  He is a tremendous 
leader in our organization, but I also hope that in the midst of sharing 
with you a little bit more about what NFB does, he shares just a moment of 
what he does in his other non-volunteer life.  Most of us who are on this 
agenda today are visually impaired ourselves or blind, and are out in the 
work world doing our thing, so without further ado, I introduce John Bailey, 
our chapter president of NFB of Fairfax.
John Bailey:
I would like to start off by telling a true story.  It is a story of two 
women, they were both seniors, about in their 80s, and they both had macular 
degeneration. They both did not know what they were going to do with the 
rest of their lives.  They had worked their whole lives, they had become 
independent, they had children, and now that they had lost their vision, 
they thought "this is the end, everything I have worked for..where has it 
gone now?"

One woman, her goal, what she was stopped from, what was really important to 
her, was that she did not feel comfortable in the kitchen. She felt because 
of her vision loss, it was a very dangerous place.  It was important for her 
for her independence, what meant something to her, was to be comfortable in 
that kitchen.  She contacted my organization and said can you help me feel 
comfortable in my kitchen so I can cook for myself?  We get that question a 
lot from all sorts of different people.   Volunteers from the NFBV went over 
to her house and began labeling things for her and taught her systems for 
how to set things, the temperature on the oven without being able to see it, 
how to boil water.set the flame in just the right height without being able 
to see it.all the things she thought she would never have again were gotten 
back to her simply by just knowing a few techniques.  The way she got those 
techniques was just by asking.
The other woman, Annette, with the same macular degeneration, she had much 
higher goals.  She was ready for the second part of her life.  She felt very 
strongly about her faith and she wanted to spread it even though she did not 
have vision and could not drive any more.  She wanted to go to Africa and be 
a missionary. I was impressed.  That was a great goal, but she needed some 
skills.  She needed to know how to get around without sight.  She needed to 
know how to organize things, how to be comfortable in herself, be 
independent so that whatever happened to her, wherever she goes, she knew in 
spite of her vision, she would be able to function and do everything she 
wanted to do.  She did not immediately call the NFB, but she called around 
and asked other organizations and found out there were training centers, one 
particularly in Baltimore.
She went to Blind Industries and Services of Maryland and spent a better 
part of the year there learning Braille skills, because she could not read 
print any more.  She learned how to use a cane because she could not see 
street signs anymore.  She learned how to cook in the kitchen even though 
she could not see the flame and she could not read the numbers.
When she finished, she had all of those skills.  She was comfortable in 
herself and she was ready to go to Africa.  The point of all of this is that 
these people thought they had no options.  They don't have to be seniors, 
they can be parents of blind children, people with retinitis pigmentosa, who 
are in the prime of their lives, their prime earning years and all of the 
sudden, they discover they have vision loss, and the people around them, 
their coworkers, their boss, even their doctors, do not have any answers on 
how they would be able to continue to function. By reaching out to 
organizations, getting information, talking to people who have been where 
you currently are will introduce you to options you have no idea you had. 
By learning what your options are, you will be able to make choices and be 
able to gain back independence that you think you had lost.
Let me tell you a bit about my chapter, The National Federation of the 
Blind, the Fairfax Chapter.  This is our tenth anniversary and we are 
composed of all different kinds of people.  At our last chapter meeting, 
there were 4 parents of blind children.  There are totally blind people, we 
have low vision people, young people, and we are all there for fellowship 
and information, and if someone comes with a question, there is usually 
someone else there who can answer that information.
As Bridget said, many of the people here who are talking to you have low 
vision.  I heard a phrase on the radio, I think maybe Bridget mentioned it 
to me, I too am a macular degeneration.  My form of macular degeneration 
started when I was 8 years old though. I did not have to wait until I was 
80.  Doctors told me it was extremely rare and then my sister got the same 
condition.  In this case, we did not want to feel that special, so I have 
had low vision and most of my life up until 10 years ago, I passed for 
sighted.  I tried to do everything the sighted way, because I did not know 
any other way.  All my vision teachers said use what sight you have, make 
the print larger even though in school I would read slower, my work 
suffered, all that stuff, I had to do things the vision way because I did 
not know any other way.
Well, I made it through and I got a very good job.   I do computer 
programming for government agencies and all of the sudden my vision did what 
people had been expecting it to do, and I had thought it was not going to do 
it, I lost a lot of vision all at once.  I had to start using a cane.  I 
could not pretend any more.  I could not read the screen no matter how large 
I magnified it, I could not make sense of it, and I could not make sense of 
it in a timely way.  Because I am in a working environment, you have to be 
able to do your job.
This is a true story.  I was really frustrated.  I went to my manager and 
said, "I have been doing this very a very long time, I really like being a 
programmer, I really have no idea what I can do, maybe I can be a manager?" 
We talked about it, but it was just then 10 years ago, I had just turned 40, 
I went to my first chapter meeting for the National Federation of the Blind. 
It was across the street, literally across the street, literally across a 
lightly traveled street.  I did not have any excuses for not going across 
that street.  Everything was always too far.  I could not take a bus by 
myself.  I did not want to take a cab; that was expensive.  I did not want 
to have anyone drive me.  I just felt terrible, so I was pretty much 
landlocked other than going to work and staying at home.  That was about it. 
I started going to meetings and it took a while.  I was very uncomfortable. 
I had to face some truths.  I was blind.  I had some vision, but for 
practical purposes, I'm blind and that hurt because of everything I had 
heard before.  I told my mother when I was 40, and she cried like it was her 
failure.  That was a big hurdle to overcome, but because I had a support 
group and there are many different support groups, this particular group 
happened to be the National Federation of the Blind. I found out I did have 
options and I got my confidence back.  It was not important any more that I 
did things just like the other sighted people.  I realized what was 
important was that I did as well as they did, but I just did things 
differently, and that is okay.  So if I use speech software.that is fine. 
If I learned Braille. that's fine.  There is nothing wrong.  If I used a 
cane.well that was harder. My wife reminds me, I think I blanked this out, 
when I first started using a cane, she kept reminding me "take your cane, 
take your cane."   I was like, "Hey, I guess I left it somewhere."  Now it 
is second nature, I do not feel comfortable without my cane.  I have 
literally been around the world since then.
The point is. I asked, I found people, and I found I had options, and 
because I learned I had options, I got my independence back.  So like Marry, 
Annette, and myself, I invite you to ask questions.  If there is something 
bothering you, if there is something you feel you are missing; if you are 
afraid of the kitchen; if you are wondering how can I take care of my kids 
when I cannot see, there are techniques for keeping track of your kids when 
you cannot see.  There are answers because there are people who have been 
there before you and who have overcome those challenges.


Meeting Location:
For the October 21, 2010 meeting, we will be gathering in the banquet room 
at the Fairfax City Red Lobster, located at 10325 Fairfax Boulevard. They 
can be reached at (703) 691-1011. Their website is 
http://www.redlobster.com. Those who wish to join us for dinner should 
arrive at 6:30 p.m. The formal meeting will begin promptly at 7:00p.m. And 
run till 9:00 p.m. We will be meeting in the banquet room at the restaurant. 
A copy of the menu is at the bottom of this newsletter. If you need 
transportation assistance from the Vienna Metro Station, please contact 
Chapter Vice-President Cathy Schroeder at (703) 319-9226. We want to make 
sure anyone who wants to attend a meeting is able to do so. Please give 
Cathy several days notice if you will need a ride. Otherwise, we cannot 
promise anything.

State Convention Information: National Federation of the Blind of Virginia 
State Convention by Michael Kasey, NFB Vigilant - Spring 2010      The 2010 
NFBV Convention will be held in Falls Church November 12-14, 2010. This may 
prove to be the most attended convention in our history!  It must be the 
largest hotel we have ever had a state convention. The hotel address is: 
Marriott Fairview Park, 3111 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church, VA, 
22042(703) 849-9400 or (800) 228-9290. The rate for a room is $65 per night 
(plus tax). The same low rate is also available one day prior to and one day 
after the convention for those who wish to continue enjoying the hospitality 
of the city. There is much more to come. Stay tuned!

Speakers Available to Present at other Organizations: If you belong to a 
group that would like to have a program where your members can learn about 
low-vision and blindness, there are several excellent presenters who are 
members of the Fairfax Chapter who would be pleased to talk with you. For 
more information about hosting a program, contact John Bailey at 
703.994.2040 or via e-mail at john_bailey17 at hotmail.com.

Pledge: I pledge to participate actively in the efforts 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.

Red Lobster Menu Choices: Freshly baked  Cheddar Bay Biscuits; Garden or 
Caesar salad (add petiteshrimp for99) or  coleslaw. With the exception of 
pastas, entres also come with: Your  choice of fresh broccoli, home-style 
mashed potatoes, wild rice pilaf,baked  potato or fries. Substitute One of 
Our Premium Sides Fresh  Asparagus Seasonal. 2.25 additional Creamy 
Lobster-Topped Baked Potato  Withlangoustine lobster meat. 3.99 additional 
Creamy Lobster-Topped  MashedPotatoes With langostino lobster meat. 3.99 
additional Add to Any  MealSteamed Snow Crab Legs1/2 pound served with 
melted butter. 7.50  Steamed King Crab Legs 1/2 poundserved with melted 
butter. 9.99 Know someone

Who loves seafood? The Red Lobster Gift Card makes a great gift. Buy Gift 
Cards Online Enjoy a New England Lobster  Baked at home. We'll deliver it 
fresh to your door. Buy Live Lobster Online Savor More of the Sea on Mondays 
and Tuesdays CrabCrackin' Monday Join us every Monday for sweet snow crab 
legs. 1 pound 15.501 1/2 pounds 19.50 2 pounds 23.50 Shrimp Lover's Tuesday. 
Enjoy lots of delicious shrimp on Tuesdays! Fried shrimp, scampi, coconut 
shrimp bites or popcorn shrimp. Any Three12.75Any Four 16.25 *These menu 
items are cooked to the level of doneness you request. Consuming raw or 
undercooked meats or shellfish may increase your risk of food borne illness. 
Seaside Shrimp Trio Seaside Shrimp Trio Agenerous sampling of our Walt's 
Favorite Shrimp, savory garlic shrimp scampiand shrimp linguini Alfredo. 
17.50 Ultimate Feast® Ultimate Feast® A tender Maine lobster tail, steamed 
snow crab legs, garlic shrimp scampi and Walt's Favorite Shrimp.25.25 
Admiral's Feast Admiral's Feast Walt's Favorite Shrimp, bay scallops, clam 
strips and flounder fried to a golden brown. 16.99 Create Your Own Feast 
Choose Any Two 16.50 Choose Any Three 20.50Garlic-Grilled Jumbo Shrimp 
Seafood-Stuffed Flounder Parrot Bay Jumbo Coconut Shrimp Walt's Favorite 
Shrimp Grilled Salmon Shrimp Linguini Alfredo Crab Linguini Alfredo Garlic 
Shrimp Scampi Steamed Snow Crab Legs Grilled Sirloin Steak* (3.75 
additional)