Lauren
Beyer (MT) browses the flea market offerings at her first NFB convention.
Braille Monitor April 2006
News from the Federation Family
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Lauren
Beyer (MT) browses the flea market offerings at her first NFB convention. |
Braille Book Flea
Market:
Donate your gently used but no longer needed Twin Vision® books to the 2006
Braille book flea market, sponsored by the National Organization of Parents
of Blind Children and the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille.
Books should be in good condition. Cookbooks and Twin Vision and other children�s
Braille books are badly needed. We still have many books on other subjects left
from last year. This year all we need are children�s books and cookbooks.
Please send your Braille books to the flea market using the U.S. mail. They
can be sent Free Matter for the Blind. The address in Texas to which the books
should be sent is Braille Book Flea Market, Attention Mr. Jason Fink, 2925 Merrell
Road, Dallas, Texas 75229. If you have questions, contact Peggy Chong at (515)
277-1288 or by email at <[email protected]>. UPS will again house
our books for us in Dallas before the event and will assist with the Braille
book flea market on the day of the event. We thank them for their continued
support.
Elected:
The San Francisco Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of California
held elections on February 18, 2006. The results were as follows: president,
David Chan; vice president, Jason Holloway; secretary, Lauren Manirre; treasurer,
Lisa Gordon; and board member, Paul Wick.
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Recovering:
We have learned that on February 11, 2006, Dr. Abraham Nemeth, inventor of the
Nemeth Braille code for mathematics, was hospitalized with a serious heart attack.
He is now recovering at home, but we regret to report that he is still far from
well. We all wish him a return to full health.
New Baby:
Stephanie Holloway is the energetic and successful president of the Georgia
Parents of Blind Children Division of the NFB of Georgia. She and her husband
Richard are the proud parents of Richard Allen Holloway Jr. who was born on
Monday, February 20, 2006, at 12:03 p.m. He weighed eight pounds, twelve ounces
and was twenty-and-a-half inches long. Everyone, including the two big sisters,
is doing well.
Elected:
The Austin Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas elected
officers at its January meeting. They will serve a one-year term. Elected were
president, Jim Shaffer; first vice president, Angela Wolf; second vice president,
Mark Noble; secretary, Norma Gonzales Baker; treasurer, Margaret �Cokie� Craig;
and board members, Richie Flores and Brandy Wojcik.
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Braille Medallion
Key Rings Available at Convention:
The Cincinnati chapter of the NFB of Ohio will again be selling Louis Braille
key rings at the Ohio table in the convention exhibit hall. As many of you know,
these attractive, gold-plated coin-like medallions have Louis Braille's name
and date of birth on one side and hands reading Braille with the print inscription
"Braille opens doors" on the reverse. They are only $5 each, so plan
to stock up for the year.
Attention Affiliate, Division, and Chapter Newsletter Editors:
Larry McKeever would like to read and record your newsletters on tape. He is
currently reading for Ohio, Minnesota, Kentucky, California, and Missouri. He
would like to read for you too. You can check the latest edition of any of these
publications as an audition.
Rates are reasonable: $75 a cassette. This includes reading, mastering, and
Priority Mail postage. Simply email your Word copy of the final product to him
at <[email protected]>, and he will have the cassette (or CD) master back
to you, generally within thirty-six hours of receipt. Be sure to include instructions
about where to send both the invoice and the cassette.
In Memoriam:
We recently learned from Mary Ann Saunders, president of the Huntington Chapter
of the NFB of West Virginia, of the death on February 18, 2006, of Avis (Abbie)
Hensley, a sighted member who had been chapter treasurer for forty-seven years.
She loved the Federation and its members, and she attended state conventions
whenever she could. According to Ed McDonald, past president of the NFB of West
Virginia, �Several years ago Abbie was inducted into the affiliate's Hall of
Honor, and one can hardly recount the history of the NFB of West Virginia without
mentioning the name of Abbie Hensley.� May she rest in peace.
Notices and information
in this section may be of interest to Monitor readers. We are not responsible
for the accuracy of the information; we have edited only for space and clarity.
Braille and Large Print Patterns Available:
Lion Brand reported in its January newsletter that all of its patterns are now
offered in three versions. In addition to the standard version that includes
images and text, each pattern includes two new links at the top: the first formats
the pattern to be read in large print or by text-to-speech browsers; the second
formats the pattern so it can be read by Braille devices.
Lion has also added color
descriptions to all yarns and added special features to patterns and the pattern
directories that are not visible to sighted readers but that make it easier
to understand the patterns when they are read by text-to-speech browsers. They
welcome your suggestions and comments. Send them to <[email protected]>.
Exciting New Training Opportunity:
The South Carolina Commission for the Blind (SCCB) has entered a partnership
to train blind blood donor recruiters for the American Red Cross. Red Cross
has thirty-six telephone recruiting centers throughout the country. Anyone who
successfully completes this program will go directly to work in one of these
recruiting centers.
The training is six weeks with transportation provided to and from the hotel. A contract is also in place to provide meals, beginning with breakfast on Monday and ending with lunch on Friday, in the cafeteria on the SCCB complex. However, no contracts are in place for weekend meals.
Applicants should have effective communication skills, type at least twenty words per minute, and be proficient in the access software (JAWS or screen enlargement) that they will be using. They will also need to have at least ninth grade spelling and vocabulary skills. Once referred, applicants will undergo an interview with the director of human resources at the Red Cross location for which they will be training, as well as criminal background and drug testing.
For more information, contact
Ed Bible at (803) 898-8786 or by email at <[email protected]>.
Ohio State School for the Blind Reunion:
Imagine paying $60 for two nights lodging, six delicious meals, and membership
in an exclusive club. You can do just that by attending the fifty-seventh biennial
reunion of the Ohio State School for the Blind Alumni Association, June 16 to
18. Come and renew old friendships and form new ones. For more information contact
Paul Dressell at (513) 481-7662 or <[email protected]>.
The notices in
this section have been edited for clarity, but we can pass along only the information
we were given. We are not responsible for the accuracy of the statements made
or the quality of the products for sale.
Free to a Good Home:
Max Edelman has a Concise Heritage Dictionary recorded on four-track
tapes and a four-track cassette player in excellent condition to go with the
dictionary. These are free of charge to any blind or visually impaired person
who can use them. Contact Max at <[email protected]>.
For Sale:
Perkins Braillewriter, just refurbished, asking $400. Contact Steve Waltke at
(517) 347-7046.
For Sale:
I'm selling a Spectrum CCTV for $1,200. The screen itself is nineteen inches
wide, and the table is thirteen inches wide. If interested, contact me by email
at <[email protected]> or by phone at (207) 448-2719. My address is
Tina Hubley, 971 Bancroft Road, Weston, Maine 04424.
NFB Pledge
I pledge to participate
actively in the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality,
opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs
of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.