[NFBV-Historic-Fredericksburg] Crier

Tue Dec 17 21:04:05 UTC 2019

HISTORICFREDERICKSBURG CRIER – December 17, 2019

Welcome to this month’sHistoric Crier.  The first bit ofbusiness must include the Saturday, December 21 meeting. It will be held at theDowntown Fredericksburg Library.  As ofthis moment, I do not know if the room has changed, but it might.  We will have someone at the door to tell youif it does.  

You will read in themeeting notes to follow that this will be a pot-luck meeting where you areinvited to bring finger-foods/appetizers. The meeting will start at 10 AM as normal.  

I don’t want to be toowordy here but I would like to point out a couple of places to get someinformation that could be useful to you. The first is AIRA.  As you might know AIRA is normally a paidservice where blind people interact with a sighted guide through a cell phoneand the internet.  While this service cancost you money, it is also free at times. If you have a smart phone, download the AIRA app from the app store andsign up on it.  Once you are registeredyou can use the phone free for five minutes any time.  It is also free to use at designated locationslike airports.  It is also free to use atWalgreens and Target.  From now throughearly January I saw a message that said it was free to use anywhere forshopping.

As you might remember,I told you in earlier Criers that the app BEMYEYES was a free service on yourcell phone.  The difference between thetwo services is that BEMYEYES is volunteers and AIRA is trained professionals.  If you have a smart phone, I hope you lookinto these two apps.  If you would likethe AIRA paid service, part of the service includes a phone and glasses with acamera.  

Finally, I would like todirect you once again to Blind Abilities, either the website or podcasts. Therehave been a couple of blind tech shows that have discussed different programs andaudio description or the lack thereof. These programs could be very useful to your TV and/or movielistening.  They also talk about the strengthsand weaknesses of the services supplying them. Check them out.  

See you Saturday.

Minutes of theNovember 16, 2019 Meeting:  The meetingwas called to order by Jessica Reed, Vice President at 10:15 AM.  In attendance were Jessica, Michael, Dick,and Sue. Also in attendance were possible new members Bruce, Treasa andIsabella Adams from Culpeper.  We recitedthe pledge.

The state conventionwas briefly discussed. Michael, Membership Coordinator gave a brief backgroundon the National Federation of the Blind (NFB); in part to teach alternativemethods of handling everyday things.  Thatmembers came together in numbers for collective action to legislate changes(laws, etc.) to help blind individuals.

The state president ofthe NFB will be at the January 2020 meeting to discuss all levels of aid andhow to plug in to all.  Jessica is tryingto spearhead a program for February.  Possiblypartnering with a local restaurant for Valentine’s Day.  As a fundraiser a portion of costs of mealsthat day be shared with the Historic Fredericksburg Federation in return forpatronage of the restaurant.

Concerning December’smeeting:  In the past the group has eatenout, and last year we had a pot-luck meal at the library.  Brittany arrived and presided over the restof the meeting.  She suggested a shortbusiness meeting followed by a period of socialization.  A suggestion of a pot-luck either at theusual meeting venue or possibly at the Howell Branch of the library where wewould have access to a kitchen. Suggested appetizers/finger sandwiches.  Brittany to check on which one and email thegroup.

Dick reminded everyonedues are $5.00 per person and due in December.

A suggestion was madeto have an IPhone how-to at a future meeting (March/April). An Applerepresentative could be invited to lead a workshop to teach about voiceover,etc. 

There was a discussionregarding how to run our meetings in the future.  This will be discussed again at a latermeeting.

Discussion to followat a later date regarding how to interact more with the community.

The meeting was adjournedby the President at 12:05 PM.

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