Braille Monitor                                                         June 2007

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Friday, March 30, was the National Federation of the Blind�s annual celebration of accomplishment over the past year and of plans for the future. Titled simply �Celebration,� it�s an opportunity to invite members of the Baltimore community and Federationists across the country to enjoy an evening of good food contributed by the city�s leading restaurants, silent and live auctions to raise funds for the NFB�s many programs, big-band dance music provided by the Mood Swings, a short program about what�s new at the Jernigan Institute, and a great party in the Institute�s Members Hall.

The master of ceremonies for the 2007 Celebration was Marc Steiner, executive vice president for broadcast and production and host of the Marc Steiner Show, 88.1 FM WYPR, National Public Radio. The honorary chair of this year�s Celebration was Donald E. Frieson, senior vice president, central division, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Betsy Satosky has been a longtime friend of the NFB and again this year chaired the silent and live auctions.

In the absence of Dr. Betsy Zaborowski, executive director of the NFB Jernigan Institute, Mark Riccobono, interim executive director of the NFB Jernigan Institute, greeted guests and described this summer�s Youth Slam. Stacy Cervenka, a Youth Slam mentor, and Chelsea Muñoz, a student participant, made brief remarks. Then Kevan Worley, chairman of the NFB�s Imagination Fund, addressed the enthusiastic crowd.

When the brief program drew to a close, the Mood Swings took the stage, and guests concluded the evening with dancing. All in all, it was a grand party, and when the stardust had settled, friends and supporters of the National Federation of the Blind had raised in excess of a hundred thousand dollars to help finance our programs.

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