[CCCNFBW] November 2025 secretary report

Tue Jan 6 19:32:34 UTC 2026

Please find, attached, and below the November 2025 secretaries report.

Don Mitchell

Donmi1949 at gmail.com <mailto:Donmi1949 at gmail.com> 

360.281.0187

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

OF CLARK COUNTY

NOVEMBER 2025 MEETING MINUTES

Meeting called to order by President Chris Higley at 10:06 AM on the
Washington State School for the Blind campus.

.Members present: Chris Higley: President, Doug Trimble: Treasurer, Beth
Greenberg, Bob Sellers, Don Mitchell: Secretary, Betty Fitzpatrick, Norm
Larkin, Teresa Freeby, Angie Rodrigus, Lilly Esper, Patricia Maddix, Art,
Tina. Note: (some persons who introduced themselves were not clearly
recorded, so some persons present were not acknowledged.)

.Minutes presented for approval: Motion to approve presented by Betty and
seconded by Beth. Motion approved.

.Doug presented the treasurers report: Current balance: $3025.38. Bob moved
to except the report and Don seconded.  Motion passed.

.Bob requested that wee send a thank you letter to Al and Laura for their
entertainment at the wine and cheese event. (Bob will send Don contact
information.)

.Bob asked if any plans have been made to work with hospitals for blindness
sensitivity training. The committee has not met since the last meeting, so
the answer is no.

.Beth reminded the group of our Washington State School for the Blind social
activity, Karaoke night, in January of 2026. 

.Chapter holiday party December 13 11:00 AM at Round Table Pizza on Mil
plane.

.Chris and Cory met with Maria Perez to discuss our legislative initiatives
focusing on education. The meeting went well, but they only talked to staff
and staff can make no promises.  

.Washington State convention Feb 26-march 1 2026 in SeaTac. 

.Doug Trembel moved that we donate up to $900, at the discretion of the
president, for supporting member state convention expenses. Seconded by Bob
Sellers& Teressa. The motion passed. Look for a financial assistance form on
the listserv. 

.Don Mitchell asked if the state, or local affiliate has an archive to save
meeting secretary reports. Chris said she would talk to our state President
Marcy Carpenter about this. 

.Bob asked if it would be possible to rent a van to transport members to the
state convention. Chris said it could be considered when we know how many
members plan to attend. 

.Chris announced that Washington Seminar will take place January 26-29,
2026. A financial assistance form is available on the listserv. Forms are
due by November 17, 2025. .Don Mitchell suggested that we give a brief
description of Washington Seminar and its function for new members and
visitors. Washington Seminar is a time when representatives of state
affiliates travel to Washington DC an meet with congress and senate persons,
or their office  staff to present and talk about our legislative actions to
try to obtain sponsorship and signatures on  bills, or to encourage the
creation and submission of new bills to the national legislature. She gave,
as examples, bills concerning making medical appliances accessible to the
blind and making other kinds of technology accessible to the blind for their
use.

.Doug Trembel moved that the chapter provide $600 to the state to apply
towards Washington Seminar expenses. Motion seconded by Doug and Betty.
Motion passed. 

.Chris announced that we will be doing a "STEM to you" program in Washington
this year. The theme will be Forensic science. 

.Chris opened the "chapter chat" to the group for questions or other general
blindness discussion points to be brought up. 

Doug brought up Microsoft copilot and Google Gemini software to be used to
learn about things around us. Both have a voice interface so you can have
conversations with the applications about a point of interest.  Chris said
that you can set up a practice job interview and then have your responses to
the interviewer critiqued by the software.  Don told about asking about a
piece of music and being able to learn the title of the music, who was the
composer and performer and when it was released. Doug reminded us that Clark
County's C-tran has made Ira available to riders for travel related
assistance. We need to use it or we could loose it. 

.Doug gave a C-tran update. Go to http://c-tran.com to learn about c-tran
programs, services and current status of routs ETC.  Some fair increases
will occur in January to try and get the fairs back up to pre-pandemic
levels. Students at Clark and Washington State can now get a free pass that
will work on c-van. 

Doug announced that at all of the new Vine stops just to the left of the
bench as you face into the shelter below a video screen is a button that,
when pressed,  will announce the time of the next arrivals at the stop.
Chris reported that c-tran has updated their bylaws so that now you can
apply for more than one position at a time. Meetings are on the last
Thursday of the month and the public can attend via zoom. 

.Chris opened a philosophy discussion focusing on specialized treatment for
the blind. How can we be equal and at the same time ask for special kinds of
assistance for the blind? A vibrant discussion followed. It appeared that
the group felt that the most important thing is that blind people be
involved, as much as possible, in all walks of life. Because of our
individual situations we may need help at times. Some people need more help
than others, so assistance should be available and individuals should make
the best choice for themselves and their situation. 

.The question was asked about a gift exchange at the holiday party. The
motion was made: If you want to participate in a gift exchange bring a gift
card with a value of  $20 or less to be a part of the gift exchange. The
motion passed.

Doug announced the NFB of Washington is offering scholarship's for students
Talk to a board member if you are interested. Visitors were invited to join
the chapter. Dues are $5.00 per year and if you join in November your
membership will be good through 2026.

Don Moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion passed. 

.Members then listened to Presidential release 554 for November 2025.

-- 
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