[Ohio-talk] Fw: BUCKEYE UPDATE for JULY 31st 2009

[Dr. Smith]

Dr. J. Webster Smith
President National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
P.O.BOX 458 Athens, Ohio, 45701-0458
Phone Number - 740-592-6326
"Changing What it Means to be Blind"
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J. W. Smith" <jsmith1 at ohio.edu>
To: <jwsmithnfb at verizon.net>
Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 3:53 PM
Subject: BUCKEYE UPDATE for JULY 31st 2009


> Can you believe that it is the end of July and thus, the end of our summer 
> is rapidly approaching. As I write this update, the weather outside is 
> mixed, meaning that, it is partly sunny and cloudy.
>
> WHAT A GREAT CONVENTION
> We had a wonderful time in Detroit this year and I am pleased to tell you 
> that some of the highlights included:
> 1. Registering 132 attendees which placed us 5th in the country in 
> attendance and just 1 behind 4th place Colorado.
> 2. A successful bus trip and special thanks should go to Crystal McClain 
> and Carol Akers for making it an enjoyable and stress-free experience.
> 3. Effective and enthusiastic candy sales which allowed us to make a 
> profit and continued to endear us to the rest of our fellow 
> Federationists.
> 4. An excellent presence at the imagination march which included a 
> prominent role for one of our young Buckeyes (Boniface Womber).
> 5. Several door prices including Barbara Pierce and myself.
> 6. And we were able to recognize the 50th wedding anniversary of Bob & Pat 
> Eschbach at our July 5th caucas.
>
> I am sure that there are other highlights which you will hear about 
> probably in the next issue of the newsletter, especially since we had at 
> least 30 first time convention attendees. I was so pleased that our Toledo 
> Chapter was well represented and in fact one of our newest members Dawn 
> Lanting sold the most candy for us. It was quite clear that Ohio was at 
> the convention and I think we made a favorable impression whenever 
> possible.
>
> THE COLUMBUS CHAPTER
> On July 18th we held an informational meeting at the main library in 
> Columbus and the turn out was excellent. Eric Duffy made a presentation 
> about technology and Crystal McClain talked about our Parents Division and 
> Richard Payne orchestrated the agenda and the meeting flawlessly. We are 
> so blessed to have these wonderful people in our affiliate and to have an 
> active and effective membership committee led by Chairman Payne. It is our 
> hope that on August 22nd we will be able to reinvigorate this chapter with 
> committed leaders and members that are interested in maintaining an 
> effective presence in our capital city. This format worked very well for 
> us in Toledo and lets keep our fingers crossed that we can duplicate it 
> again in Columbus.
>
> THE BOARD MEETING & THE STATE CONVENTION
> Our board meeting is set for September 19th at 10 am in Columbus. It will 
> be held once again at The Gethsemane Lutheran Church located at 35 East 
> Stanton.  Look for additional details about the board meeting soon. Our 
> state convention will be held at the Ramada Plaza located at 4900 Sinclair 
> Rd. The dates of our convention are October 30th through November 1st, so 
> yes it will a Halloween event once again. Our room rates will be $72 per 
> night and you can begin making reservations even now by calling 
> (614)846-0300. Our block of rooms will be held until October 8th. I am 
> also pleased to tell you that Dan Frye will be our National Representative 
> this year. I think he will be an excellent contributor to our convention. 
> Make plans now to attend the convention because we want to build on the 
> energy and enthusiasm from our National Convention.
>
> REMINDERS
> 1. Remember to get material to Barbara Pierce for the Fall newsletter by 
> August 15th.
> 2. Don't forget that you must submit a chapter report even if you don't 
> choose to participate in the Gavel Award process. You will receive 
> additional information about the process for turning in your chapter list 
> and paying your dues.
> 3. Remember that October is MEET THE BLIND MONTH and also October 15th is 
> WHITE CANE SAFETY DAY. You should be making plans about activities for 
> this very important month.
> 4. Remember that you will be receiving pre-registration material for the 
> state convention and you should encourage each other to pre-register 
> because it will save you money and it will make registration matters at 
> the convention that much more managable.
> 5. You should receive convention assistance information soon but you 
> should be prepared to contribute as much as possible financially because 
> our funds are limited and given the present economic environment it will 
> be extremely important that each of us do our part to ease as much of our 
> financial burden as is possible.
>
> As I conclude this update, it is important that I reiterate how important 
> it is for us to be as fiscally responsible as we can be. I personally have 
> never seen our economic times as tenuous as they are now. For the past 
> three or four weeks I have received a minimum of three calls from 
> individuals seeking all kinds of financial support and informing me about 
> their dire economic situations. I must tell you that there are several in 
> our federation family that are suffering very difficult times as well. It 
> should come as no surprise to you that our affiliate has been and will 
> continue to be impacted by this economic environment as well. Therefore, 
> at our September board meeting we will have serious discussions about how 
> this economic environment is impacting us and what steps we will have to 
> take to maintain our effectiveness and viability as an organization. Let 
> it suffice to say that every chapter, division, and individual will have 
> to make sacrifices to keep us moving in a positive direction. To coin a 
> phrase, we are at a time when we will have to backup our words with our 
> money. I have no doubt that in true federation history and style we will 
> do what we have to do to be all that we can be for blind Ohioans.
>