[Ohio-talk] Great Convention

Tue Jul 14 02:04:17 UTC 2009

Hi All,
I am glad that those who posted had a great time at Convention.
Let's remember that part of being at Convention is attending the sessions and working where assigned.
It's nice to have fun but our primary reason for being at a Convention is to participate in Sessions and work where assigned.
You can still have time to party. There is a balance there.
Actually, I think you can attend every Session, the Banquet and some evening meetings and still have time to have fun.
Let's see how many people we can get to State Convention and how much participation we can have at all the sessions.
Colleen Roth

----- Original Message -----
From: "Everett Gavel" <e.gavel at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NFB OF Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Date: 2009/07/13 20:03:03
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Great Convention

>
>
> I have 5 experiences and thoughts to share in regards to my convention
> experience this year:
> 
> 1)  I'm thankful for the roommates I had.  It was good to get to know all 3
> of them better.  I look forward to meeting up with Eric (from Toledo), Henry
> and Christian (both from Cleveland) at future conventions and other events.
> 
> 2)  Eric, Hannah, and I met another convention-goer down in the lobby one
> night.  She had just arrived that day (from Chicago) and was sitting there
> alone (well, her and her GDF GUIDE-DOG, Jim), doing her homework.  It was
> her first convention, and basically her opening herself up to the NFB FOR
> the first time, too, I believe she said.  Well, I don't know if we let her
> be alone again for the rest of the week.  We were checking to make sure she
> always had something to do and someone to do it with.  If she didn't, we
> told her to come with us, wherever that may have been.  Her name is Sarah,
> Sarah Chung, and she is the young lady that some of you met during the
> March, because when Hannah went to the ER WITH HER FRIEND (Alicia) and
> realized she'd miss the march due to still being at the ER, I shanghaied
> Sarah to help me carry the flag!  And not only that, but I do love the way
> God works and weaves things together.  Sarah is from Chicago, but being so
> new to all this, she really knew no one yet from the Illinois affiliate.  So
> she hung out with some friendly Ohioans for much of the week.  It turns out
> that Sarah lives only about 45 minutes from where Marilyn Donehey just moved
> to, North of Chicago.  So I hooked them up and pointed out some great
> similarities between them.  That they both are musically inclined to say the
> least.  That besides the trumpet, Sarah also plays the piano, and that
> Marilyn is currently looking for a piano player to partner with so she can
> hopefully continue on with what she was doing here in Northeast Ohio.  Here
> she was half of a duo (duet?) called, "The Melody Masters."  On top of that,
> Marilyn wants to start an NFB CHAPTER North of Chicago, since the Chicago
> meeting is so far away.  And with Sarah being so close to Marilyn now, a
> more local chapter would be great for both of them, and so I think they can
> work together on that chapter as well.  How cool is that?
> 
> 3) At the elevators after the banquet, I met an old e-mail friend, in-person
> for the first time.  His girlfriend mentioned wanting to do something I'd
> been thinking of for weeks, but hadn't attempted yet.  See, in Cleveland
> they have this hi-rise called Tower City.  Each year they have some sort of
> a fundraiser called, I think, "Race to the Top."  It's 42 floors up, and
> people race up the stairwell.  I have yet to make it up to Cleveland to
> participate, but I hope to one day.  And I've been thinking, "Hey, this
> hotel I'll be staying at in Detroit has 72 floors, nevermind 42!"  So this
> young lady at the elevators and I became instant friends, and, "Partners In
> Climb."  And that is how Lindsey from Rhode Island, Sarah from Chicago, and
> my tired old butt from Ohio climbed 70+ flights of stairs together, the
> evening of the banquet.  Why, you might ask? Why not, I say in return.  It's
> that simple, if you let it be.  We created a memory, to say the least.
> 
> 4) Again I missed meetings I'd hoped to go to.  Again I missed one full
> afternoon of General sessions and bits and pieces of a couple of others.
> And I totally messed-up and missed out on helping out at the Ohio table this
> year (Sorry, Crystal).  But I'm getting better, year-after-year.  It was
> invigorating to be at convention again.  This was my first national since
> 2003.  And though this point may sound like a negative, it isn't.  Getting
> to cnovention helped solidify several things for me, and reinvigorated me,
> while helping me realize I did better, am doing better, than at previous
> conventions. ;com)
> 
> 5) Lastly, I want to share something I just had a thought on.  I have wished
> several times for easier-to-maneuver hotels (Atlanta and Detroit both come
> to mind most immediately for me).   But in thinking more about it, I'm glad
> for these hotels and these experiences.  Because through any minor
> frustrations, at the very least it ends up pointing out a simple fact:  that
> no matter the circumstances, no matter the supposed barriers, we will
> survive, and we will ultimately get there.  And hey, we might even find
> something better than what we had in mind as a destination originally.  All
> from simply taking that step past our hesitancy, past our not knowing
> exactly where we are headed, and just doing it.  It reminds me of the simple
> truth that one does not grow without being put under stress.  It's how we
> grow our muscles, it's how we grow our knowledge, and certainly it's how God
> grows us.
> 
> Thanks for letting me be a part of such a great week, and such a great
> experience.
> 
> 
> Everett
> www.DreamingInTandem.blogspot.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
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