[Ohio-talk] Buckeye Update

[Eric Duffy]

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio Buckeye Update 
Friday, March 27, 2015

I begin this update with the sad news of the death of Cynthia Johnson. Cynthia served as the superintendent of the Ohio State School for the Blind until her death. If I remember correctly, I first met Cynthia in the fall of 1983 when she began her role as school psychologist. I graduated from the school in June before she arrived, but she always made me feel welcome at the Ohio State School for the Blind. Our prayers and sympathy go out to her family, friends, and to the OSSB family. I sent flowers on our behalf.
	I have begun discussions with supporters of the school to do what we can to see that the administrations of the Ohio State School for the Blind and the Ohio School for the Deaf are not combined. This is a real possibility, and we must guard against it.

We have had a change related to the schedule for our BELL Program.  This change is final. The final day of the program will be July 2. So the dates for the 2015 BELL Program are June 22-July 2. Again the program will be held at the Ohio State School for the Blind, 5220 North High Street in Columbus.

I want to thank everyone who has supported our Malley's Chocolate fund raiser so far. If you are still waiting to place your order, you are not too late. But you must complete your order by Monday. A special thanks goes to Milena Zavoli for encouraging us, reminding us, and serving as our Malley's cheerleader. 

We need to encourage people to plan to attend the National Convention. I want people to preregister. It Would be nice if we had more than 75 registered before the convention begins. I have created a convention assistance request form which many of you should have by now, but let me know if you need it. The deadline for submitting your request for assistance is April 15. For a number of reasons it will help me to know who will be attending the convention from Ohio. Please let me know who will be attending from your chapter or division. The best way to let me know is by email.

In order to try to encourage everyone to preregister for the convention I am creating a drawing with the following stipulations. If we have 75 or more Ohioans preregister using the online registration process, I will enter everyone's name who did so in a drawing for a $75 gift card or a combination of gift cards that can be purchased through shop with Scrip. This is not money that will come from the affiliate treasury. It will come from my personal bank account,  but it is money that I will give gladly. If you cannot register online for some reason then get someone to help you do it. Preregistration closes at 11:59 PM. on May 31.

Anyone who wants to sign up with Commtech USA's training and support program must let me know by 5:00 PM., on Wednesday, April 1. I don't know how much the service will cost until I know how many people want the service. I can say that during this quarter those using the service paid $30 per month. I am going to hold to this deadline so we can get our payment in. I also ask that if you plan to signup please get your check to Sherry Ruth no later than one week after I contact you with the payment amount. If Sherry and I have to continue chasing down payments, we'll  no longer be able to offer the service.


Although it is a few weeks away, I want to remind you that the next meeting of the Board of Directors will take place on April 11, at 10:00 AM. This meeting will of course, be by conference call. Our new conference line number is   (
(712) 775-7031. 
The Meeting ID is:
900-797-801
 followed by the pound Sign. All are invited and welcome to participate.
Tom Anderson always lets me know how much he appreciates these updates, so I am sorry to disappoint him by saying that unless there is something to report that cannot wait, I will not write for the next two or three Fridays. It is possible that I will get out an update on the 17th, but I plan to be in Baltimore with the Cleveland Chapter. On Friday we will be visiting Congress and touring our nation's Capital. So the only way that I might get an update out is if I write it on the bus on the way to   Baltimore.

There is much for all of us to do in the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio. Let's go build the Federation.
Eric Duffy, President National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.