[Nyagdu] Advocacy Seminar with Montrose Travel

[cheryl echevarria]

I would like to let everyone know that last night that our Division 
President, Marion Gwizdala and myself gave a very informative lecture on the 
National Federation of the Blind and Traveling with Guide Dogs to my host 
agency Montrose Travel.

It was about 45 minutes long, but want to thank Marion for working with me, 
and I hope in the future we can work again at this, and when we have our 
hotline up and running, Montrose would put this information on their website 
as well.

I did most of the informational talking about the NFB and who the NFB is and 
that NAGDU is one of the Divisions of the National Federation of the Blind, 
I also mentioned that or at least tried in my own words to make note that 
the blind traveler shouldn't be ignored and that this is a field that travel 
agents should try and focus on.  Mentioning that we are just like everyone 
else only that we cannot see.

There are some of us that are not as independent as others and may need an 
escort/tour guide service to help us along the way, or we may be ones who 
are well seasoned travelers that like to climb mountains and water skiing.

Different strokes for different folks.

Then I handed the talking over to Marion and he discussed what is a guide 
dog, what are the laws and all the things that we work on, etc.  The NFB and 
NAGDU information will be used as a resource to the Montrose family of 
employees as training tools and well as education.

A little history of Montrose Travel, located in Montrose California.  They 
are my host agency, and that they have been in business for over 50 years 
and was recently named the in the Prestigious Top 10 list by Ensemble Travel 
Group one of the travel industry's oldest and most respected travel 
consortia.

Just want to say I am very proud to  be a member of the National Federation 
of the Blind and a member of the National Association of Guide Dog Users.

Cheryl Echevarria
Independent Travel Consultant
http://Echevarriatravel.com
1-866-580-5574

http://blog.echevarriatravel.com
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10