[Ohio-talk] Fw: BUCKEYE UPDATE - June 11, 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: Thursday, June 11, 2009 12:12 PM
Subject: BUCKEYE UPDATE - June 11, 2009


>I am so excited because my academic year comes to an end this Friday. 
> Yay! What this means is that if you really need to get an email 
> message to me, don't use my office address because I will be over 
> here very little until I return to teaching this summer on July 27th. 
> It has been a long year and learning my new job as NFBO President has 
> been exciting, but it has added to my list of things to do, so 
> needless to say, I am really looking forward to these next 6 weeks.
> 
> Transportation and the National Convention
> 
> Here is the official bus schedule.  The bus will depart from 
> Cincinnati on July 2nd at 3pm. The pickup spot will be the Hyde Park 
> Community Methodist Church, located at 1345 Grace Avenue, 45208. The 
> next stop will be in Dayton at 4pm, and the pickup spot will be the 
> Denny's restaurant located at 1136 Main Street downtown. The next 
> stop will be at the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Toledo, located off 
> I-75 and route 20, at 7pm. Arrival time at the convention hotel is 
> scheduled for 8:15pm. Our return trip will begin on July 9th at 9am. 
> The first stop in Toledo will be at 10am at the same location as 
> before. We are scheduled to arrive in Dayton at 12:30pm and arrive 
> back in Cincinnati at 1:30pm. It is important that you be on time for 
> all of these pickups. In fact, you should plan on being at the 
> locations at least 30 minutes before departure time.
> 
> For those of you driving to the convention, please keep in mind that 
> parking will be expensive ($25 a day I believe).  Some of you have 
> asked for assistance in this area, and in general I will assist with 
> any reasonable transportation cost. For those of you taking the 
> Greyhound, the station is not very far from the hotel, probably about 
> a $5 cab ride at the most. I would not recommend that you try to walk 
> to the hotel, or if you do, that you keep your wits about you, 
> especially if you are arriving after dark.
> 
> The OSSB Presentation
> 
> On Thursday, June 4th, Eric and I attended the OSSB Awards 
> Assembly.  Eric distributed the Braille Readers Are Leaders packets, 
> and we should be particularly grateful for his service and 
> commitment.  This is just one of the things that Eric used to do for 
> us in his previous position. I am pleased and delighted that he was 
> able to do it again this year, and that his employer allowed it to 
> happen. Eric continues to do as much as he can for us, and I want to 
> convey my personal gratitude for his efforts. I was excited to be 
> able to present our financial contribution to the marching band at 
> this event as well. I'm not sure if they were more excited about the 
> musical card or the money, but it was clear that they were most 
> appreciative for our contribution. I tried to convey to them, in no 
> uncertain terms, how proud we are of their opportunity and that we 
> will be behind them throughout this process.
> 
> Conference Calls
> 
> On Monday June 8th there was a conference call which included myself, 
> Barbara Pierce, Barbara Fohl, Richard Payne, and our Lake County 
> chapter leaders. It is clear that there is a need to revitalize that 
> chapter, and so on September 12th we will be holding a meeting in the 
> area to ascertain interest and to try to identify new leaders. Our 
> membership committee will be spearheading this effort once again, so 
> keep your fingers crossed that we will be successful. On Tuesday June 
> 9th, the personnel committee met to discuss the present and future of 
> our mentoring program, and subsequently made an offer for Debra 
> Kendrick to consider, which includes a scaled-down version of our 
> present program for 2010. It is my hope that we will have something 
> to present to board members at the National Convention for consideration.
> 
> Finally, I don't know about you, but I am getting excited about the 
> convention this year, and it seems as if it's going to be 
> well-attended and that we will have a very nice Ohio delegation. I 
> would like for you though at this time to pray for and send positive 
> thoughts to several of our members who are experiencing life's 
> challenges right now. I don't want to be more specific here, but let 
> it suffice to say that several of our members can only be helped by 
> the love and warmth of our Federation family at this time in their 
> lives. I will probably not write an extensive update before the 
> convention, but I will as usual send out small reminders of 
> importance when I feel they are warranted. 
> 
>