[nfbwatlk] Fwd: great convention

Fri Nov 7 01:36:53 UTC 2008

Now that I am finally back online for a while I can respond to some of
these messages. I agree that we had a great convention. Friday did not
go quite as planned. The student seminar turned into a philosophy
discussion that was very helpful to many new people. Thank you to Dan
Fry and Jennifer (Jedi) Murke for making the day a success for those
new to the NFB philosophy. The Braille Carnival was also different
than we had planned. Denise and I had planned a very organized
situation. However, the Carnival turned into a Carnival! Thank you to
Ben, Lauren, Ella May, Connie, Mike Freeman, Susan Lincoln, Sharon
Smith, Jackie from WSSB, Doug Trimble, Doug Johnson, Ivan, Jenniver
(Jedi), Jacob, Paula and all others who helped out in ways we might
not even realize. Denise and I truly appreciate the time and effort
that you gave us.

The Board Meeting on Friday night was interesting and informative.
Kaye gave us a great report and Gary gave his usual informative and
interesting repoprt of the Treasury. We discussed many thing fron the
state of the bank accounts to fund raising opportunities to membership
recruitment and more. Ben headed up the Resolution Committee and the
committee agreed on three resolutions to present to the convention
with a due pass reccomendation. I truly enjoyed myself and I know
others did as well.

Saturday was a full agenda. Even though the PA system did not work to
begin with, we were able to hear the speakers as they projected their
voices and the audience was respectful and attentive. Mike Freeman
gave his presidential report, Dan Fry gave the National Report. We
heard from the mayors office of Everett and our elected officials.
Danielle King from the WTBBL, Lou Oma Durand from DSB, Dean from WEEB,
and Kirk Adam's representative grom the lighthouse for the Blind all
spoke on Saturday. Kirk was not able to make it due to a Board meeting
that continued longer than anticipated. We also heard from Dr. Fine
from the UW and from those interested in helping our blind kids to
have certified teachers for O &M as well as other aspects of blindness
skills. I spoke briefly on how a chapter can use public relation
techniques to get the word out oabout their chapters events and
holpefully get more people interested in what we are doing. The
keynote speech from Dan Fry was truly wonderful. Dan gave an eloquent
speech, filled with information of current events and provoking us to
think beyond the present to future and how we can be better
Federationists. The final event of the evening was the Auction.

Paula and all worked hard to get some wonderful items for the auction.
Hats off to all who were able to get donations as well to those who
brought handmade items. The cookies from nancy Johnson and Kay Burrow
brought her wonderful BROWNIES!!! (BTW, while we did end up taking
home 3 boxes of brownies we were able to eat only 2 boxes total as our
dogs got into the brownies and ate half a pan of the Kalua brownies
and half a pan of the Cherry Cordial brownies... while we were
concerned about their health, we couldn't help but laugh as they
stumbled around drunkenly for a few hours... better to laugh then cry,
right?). We were able to raise around $1200 with our auction. THANK
YOU Ben, Paula, Connie, Ivan and Doug Johnson. Again, if I forgot
anyone, please accpt our thanks and forgive my faulty memory.

Sunday was the business meeting for the NFBW. As you saw earlier, the
results of the elections have been posted. Congratulations to all that
were elected to office and thank you to all who ran. Many of the
openings did have more than one candidate and few were a shoe in. Gary
Mackenstadt is no longer our Treasurer. he decided not to run as he
has served for many, many, many, many, many, many years (grin) as
treasurer, president or vice president. He is, however, still on the
state board and filling the one year vacancy left by Doug Johnson who
is now the state treasurer. Thank you Gary for all you have done in
the past and all you will do in the future. We even created an
Assistant Treasurer's position for him... so you see... it is a
lifetime position!

All three resolutions passed and I assume that they will be posted to
the list in a bit. Ivan talked about the ease of camping and enjoying
the outdoors even though you may be blind. Jackie gave us a run down
on what happened at the Youth Slam and shared her experiences. I look
forward to watching her grow and becoming a leader within the NFBW.

That is my perspective on the NFBW Fall Convention of 2008. It was
fantastic to see Renee and Dan and all others from across the state of
Washington. The future of the affiliate looks bright and I am excited
to be a part of it. Thank you Mike for all you do for this affiliate.
The agenda was well put together and alot of good discussion was
created by the participants. Thank you Gary for your continued effots
in coordinating and negotiating with the hotels. We always know that
you will fix it if something doesn't work right. From getting the
hotel to tgive us some great rates, to getting the PA system fixed to
keeping the bar open for those who want it, we appreciate all you do.
I know I am energized and ready for the upcoming year, which sounds a
bit strange considering the holidays are upon us. I'd love to hear
from others if your perspective was similar or different. See you all
soon.

Look for upcoming announcements on the Seattle Chapter Holiday Party
and Wine Tastings!

Kris Lawrence
President, NFBW Greater Seattle Chapter
First Vice President, NFBW

On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 6:52 PM, Lauren Merryfield <lauren1 at catliness.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> We had a great convention!  I really enjoyed it and was glad some election kinks were ironed out.  It was good to see all of you again!  Really nice hotel, too.  The staff people were really nice.
> Thanks
> Lauren cat person Merryfield
> "A black cat crossing your path signifies that the
> animal is going somewhere" ~ Groucho Marx
> CATLINES has moved to a blog at:
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