[Travelandtourism] Discussion: New members of the division. Let us welcome them

Sun Aug 4 21:43:25 UTC 2013

Thank you for welcoming me to the Travel and Tourism  Division.  Again, my 
name is Denice Brown and I live in Philadelphia,  PA.  I am President of the 
Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the NFB of  PA.  I have been President 
since 2003.  I am blind due to retinitis  pigmentosa which I have had since 
birth, but my vision began to diminish greatly  in 1990 at the age of 32.  I am 
a retired elementary school  teacher.

I currently serve on the SEPTA Advisory Committee  which is the voice for 
persons with disabilities who might right Para Transit,  or the fixed-route 
bus system.  I ride both, but I spend about 90% of the  time riding public 
transportation.  I am also a member of Delta Sigma Theta  Sorority, Inc. and I 
serve as the recording secretary for my local chapter, with  this 
organization I spend a great deal of time serving my  community.

I travel to the NFB major events each year along with  my sororities 
events.  I love to travel to New York City for Broadway  Shows, shopping and 
eating.  I do have concerns about accessibility when it  comes to travel for 
blind individuals.  I have had mostly good experiences  when it comes to 
airlines, airports, hotel staff and restaurants.  I know  that many others have not 
been as lucky and I want to make sure that they  register their complaints 
and either get satisfaction, or find the proper  procedure to make sure that 
this does not happen again.  

If it can fit into my schedule, I might like to travel  with this group (or 
any other group for that matter).

Ok, I have said enough.  If you want to learn  just a little more about me, 
you can read a story that was printed in the  December 2006 Braille Monitor 
with the title 'What A  Relief'

Take care,
Denice Brown

In a message dated 8/4/2013 9:01:36 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com writes:

http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/travelandtourism_nfbnet.org   

Good morning everyone.

I want to welcome all new members of our division, and the  newest one is 
Denise Brown from the NFB of Pennsylvania.

We have a website, http://www.nfbtravel.org, e-mail:  Info at nfbtravel.org in 
reference to our e-mail address, it goes to not only me  but all the 
officers and not the board members at this time.

Our officers are Vice President, Maurice (Reese) Shackelford  of Georgia; 
Secretary, Margo Downey of New York; Treasurer, Milton Taylor of  UT (fyi, 
Milton has been treasurer since 2004).

We also have 3 Board Members Amy Baron of Minnesota, Jemal  Powell of 
Illinois, and Tracie Inman of FL.

Before I talk about myself, I ask that you tell us about  yourselves, who 
you are, why are you here, and if you are any officer or a  returning member 
what makes you stay.

These are some of the topics, we here at our state  conventions to talk to 
newbies about. It is important to do that.

I would please ask that all officers and members introduce  themselves, and 
please join the talk list. The link above is to our NFB Travel  Talk list.

That way we don't have to reply all to  everyone.

Saves a lot of time this way.

Anyway, Welcome:

You don't have to give us a full story like mine, but you  can see in my 
writing as bad as it is. LOL, where my head and heart  is.

My name is Cheryl Echevarria, I am the current President of  this division. 
I stepped in 2011 for Don Gillmore, the former President, who  asked that I 
take over and was elected by the members due to all the  advocating I had 
been doing in the way of travel with all people with  disabilities.  In 2012, 
I was elected to my 2 year term as the President  on my own.

I have been a member of the NFB since I picked up one of the  "Voice of the 
Diabetic" Subscriptions I found while I was waiting for my  dialysis 
treatment, I had low vision then. That magazine is no longer produced  by the 
Diabetic Action Network. That was in 2002. I have been a paid member  since 
2006, currently I hold the position of 2nd Vice President of Greater  Long 
Island, and Treasurer as well. I am a member of NAGDU, Diabetic Action  Network, 
the Merchants Division, and the National Association of Blind  Veterans (no 
I am not a veteran, but I am a daughter of a veteran, and I  believe in the 
case of helping those that protect our country)

I have been blind since 2001 at the age of 35, so I know  what is to be 
sighted and now I know what it is to be blind. I think god gives  us this 
trials and tribulations to be better people.  It was from  diabetes and also 
kidney failure, which I celebrate my 8th Anniversary on  August 23rd at being 
post Kidney Transplant. God is good.

Since then I have made it my intention to give back to those  that have 
helped me and work in the field of avocation for the blind  in anyway shape and 
form.  I am not going to tire you about my life, but  if you want to read 
more about me. There was an article written up in the  Braille Monitor about 
me. The link is here:

https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm12/bm1204/bm120412.htm

I started my business in 2009, and I believe with the right CONFIDENCE,  
TRAINING AND EDUCATION, that blind people can do everything and anything we  
want to do, again we want, and not what others tell us. 

Just a quick FYI.  Since that person said that this  division is failing, 
we now have and Treasurer Milton Taylor can correct me,  but including 
convention we have 23 paid members.  That is double than we  had last year. I 
would like to see this division a strong one like the other  divisions. Right 
now we are listed on the nfb.org under recreation as a  division, I think we 
need to change that, since this division works more than  just traveling. We 
also some of us work in the travel field, and this is a  great direction to 
go into for many reasons for us the blind.

I also shows advocacy in the way of changing the laws in  this country on 
how they protect us here and abroad when we do  travel.

Your sister in the NFB

Cheryl Echevarria, President
NFB Travel and Tourism
http://www.nfbtravel.org
info at nfbtravel.org

Echevarria Travel has  partnered with Braille Smith. 
http://www.braillesmith.com for all her braille  needs.
Gail Smith is the  Secretary of the NFB of  Alabama

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